Hayv Kahraman was 10 when her family fled Iraq. As a refugee growing up in Sweden, she worked hard to assimilate into her new homeland, mastering Swedish and trying to avoid speaking Arabic. The process of distancing herself from Iraqi culture continued as an adult, when she spent four years studying art in Italy.

“I was indoctrinated into believing that white European art history was what I needed to strive for. So I visited all the museums, I made copies of Old Master paintings. … I was in that space, believing that what I needed to do was to mimic that in order to succeed,” she told Al-Monitor. “Looking back at it now, it was as if my mind was colonized.” 

This process of mental colonization and Kahraman’s gradual re-establishment of her links to her homeland are expressed in “The Translator,” an oil-on-canvas work capturing a group of dark-haired women that blends Renaissance painting techniques with the colors and flattened perspective of traditional Oriental miniatures. It is one of two works by Kahraman that will be on show at the Victoria and Albert Museum from June 28 to Nov. 25 as part of an exhibition showcasing the work of eight finalists competing for the fifth edition of the Jameel Prize.

Launched in 2009, the biannual prize is a collaboration between the museum and Art Jameel, a nonprofit art organization based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The prize celebrates the work of contemporary artists and designers inspired by Islamic traditions of art, craft and design.