ERBIL () - Kurdish painter Yasin Hassan is participating in a joint painting exhibition in the German city of Itzehoe alongside between 40 and 100 artists from the Holstein region and its surroundings, with the exhibition scheduled to open on Saturday, September 12 and run for 18 days, he told in an exclusive interview on Friday.
"The artworks are displayed in two main venues in the city of Itzehoe,"Hassan told. "Some of the works are exhibited at the district council and others at the regional library, so that the diversity of art can be presented more broadly in a single exhibition. At the regional library, sculptures, artistic objects, photographs, and photographic art are displayed, while at the district council, paintings, graphics, prints, and mixed media works are presented."
Hassan described the exhibition's significance within the region's cultural calendar. "This exhibition is one of the important artistic events of the area and is held every year by the municipality of Itzehoe. Between 40 and 100 artists from the Holstein region and surrounding cities and areas participate every year and present their works to visitors,"he said.
On the significance of his participation as a Kurdish artist, Hassan was candid about the deeper meaning behind his involvement. "For several years now, as a Kurdish artist, I have participated in this exhibition with several different paintings, and it is very important to me as a Kurdish artist to participate in Germany's artistic events,"he said. "Because these kinds of exhibitions are not just about displaying paintings and artworks. They are an opportunity for the name of a Kurdish artist to be read alongside artists from other countries, and especially Germany, and for Kurdish art to be recognized in a diverse environment."
On the distinctive visual character of the exhibition, Hassan highlighted the prominent role of black and white. "The importance of black and white color in the works of this exhibition is very distinctive and has given the exhibition a special style, making viewers look at the artistic works from a different angle,"he said.
Hassan also described the exhibition's curatorial process. "Before the opening of the exhibition, a special committee is formed to evaluate the submitted artworks,"he explained. "This committee consists of five artists and a professional critic, and it takes on the task of selecting and evaluating the submitted artistic works."
On the exhibition's purpose, Hassan was direct. "The aim of this exhibition is for the artworks to be evaluated by specialists before they are displayed, and for the strong and quality works to be distinguished from the weaker ones,"he said. "The opening of the exhibition begins with an artistic programme, and before the opening, several pieces of music are presented to attendees."
Yasin Hassan was born in 1968 in Gulala in the Kurdistan Region. Since 1994 he has been resident in Germany, where he has held several solo and joint exhibitions alongside internationally recognized artists and has received multiple international awards. He works in the realist style and through his paintings chronicles the feelings and daily life of human beings, producing work that draws from lived experience and renders it with precision and emotional depth.
The 18-day exhibition in Itzehoe, one of the most established annual art events in the Schleswig-Holstein state of northern Germany, opens on Saturday, September 12, 2026, with Hassan's participation representing a continuing presence of Kurdish artistic identity within European cultural life.
