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Siafo-1997-reckb0H08baYFrCNd
Ancient Symbols and Glyphs on Brown - shown to scale
Kareem Siafo

Ancient Symbols and Glyphs on Brown, 1997

Estimated price$987 – $1,833

Mixed Media on Paper

33 × 24 cm | 13.0 × 9.4 in

Certificate of Authenticity

A Certificate of Authenticity (COA) is a signed document verifying that this artwork is the genuine work of the named artist. For pieces from the Hindiyeh Collection, the COA is signed by the collection. For gallery- or artist-direct pieces, it is issued by the gallery or by the artist's authorized estate.

The COA includes the artist's name, the title, year, medium, and dimensions of the work, and is delivered with the artwork at the time of dispatch.

Rarity classifications

Unique
A one-of-a-kind work. No other version of this piece exists.

Limited edition
The artist or their estate produced a known, finite number of copies. The edition size is shown in the work's details.

Open edition
The edition run is ongoing. New works may still be produced in the same series, which may be numbered or made to order.

Unknown edition
The edition has ended, but the number originally produced is no longer documented.
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Shipping & taxes

Ships from Amman, Jordan. Hand-packed in a custom crate or rigid art-tube depending on medium and size.

Delivery (after handling): 5–10 business days within MENA, 10–18 to Europe and North America, 14–25 elsewhere. Larger or framed works ship via fine-art freight; timing confirmed by email after purchase.

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Works leaving Jordan require an export clearance certificate, arranged on your behalf.

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About the work

A richly textured composition fills aged brown paper with an array of bold, primitive glyphs and symbols — triangles, arrows, eye forms, and figurative marks rendered in vivid reds, yellows, greens, and blues. The arrangement evokes the feel of an ancient script or archaeological tablet, dense with cryptic visual language.

Kareem Siafo (Iraq).

Mixed Media on Paper, 24 × 33 cm, 1997.

Part of the permanent collection of the Hindiyeh Museum of Arts, Jordan. One of a kind.

Medium
Size
33 × 24 cm | 13.0 × 9.4 in
Year
1997
Rarity
Unique
Certificate of authenticity
Included
Genre
Colours
Brown, Red, Yellow
Location
Amman, Jordan

About the artist

Kareem Siafo — Mixed media On Paper , 24 × 33 cm (representative image)
Kareem Siafo

Iraq

Kareem Siafo, born in Mosul in 1953, is an Iraqi artist renowned for his evocative use of color and harmonious compositions. He graduated from the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad in 1975 and the College of Fine Arts in 1979, studying under prominent Iraqi artists, including Faiq Hassan. Siafo is a member of the Iraqi Artists Syndicate, the Iraqi Plastic Artists Association, the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate, the Iraqi National Committee, and the International Association of Plastic Arts.

Siafo has held several solo exhibitions, notably in Baghdad in 1990 and 1997, and in Paris in 1999. His work has been showcased in numerous exhibitions both within Iraq and internationally. In 2011, the French Embassy in Baghdad organized an exhibition in his honor. His paintings are distinguished by a refined sensitivity in color application and a balanced blend of hues, imparting a unique charm and distinction to his pieces.

In 2013, Siafo demonstrated his commitment to Iraq's cultural heritage by returning two of his stolen artworks to the National Museum. These pieces had been looted during the 2003 invasion and were recovered by Siafo from art vendors in Baghdad. His dedication to preserving Iraq's artistic legacy underscores his deep connection to his homeland and its rich cultural history.

View all works by Kareem Siafo

Mixed media

Works combining two or more materials — paint, collage, found objects, text, sand — in a single piece. The approach lets artists layer meaning and material, and is widely used in modern and contemporary MENA art.
View more mixed media artworks

Calligraphic Abstraction

Also known as Hurufiyya, this movement reimagines Arabic letters as pure abstract form — a defining current of modern Arab art that fuses centuries of calligraphic heritage with contemporary abstraction.
View more calligraphic abstraction artworks