بان الحلي / مقيمة في بريطانيا

 Ban Al-Hilley

is an Iraqi visual artist and Art Educator who lives and works in the United Kingdom. Her artistic journey spans more than three decades, beginning in the early 1990s when she embraced art as a language for expressing humanity, memory, and emotion. Throughout her career, she has worked across painting, ceramics, and sculpture, developing extensive experience with a wide range of materials and artistic techniques.

Her artistic practice is closely intertwined with her academic journey. After earning a Bachelor of Arts with First Class with Honours from Kingston University in the United Kingdom, she continued her postgraduate studies in Art Education at University College London (UCL). She also holds a degree in Veterinary Medicine and Surgery from the Baghdad University , Iraq. Her academic background has deepened her understanding of art history, theory, and contemporary artistic practice while encouraging research, experimentation, and critical inquiry. Living and studying in the United Kingdom has further enriched her visual language, broadening her engagement with international artistic movements while allowing her to preserve the distinctive character of her Iraqi cultural identity.

Ban Al-Hilley’s work explores themes of humanity, womanhood, memory, love, and life, as well as the profound emotional impact of war and migration on the Iraqi collective consciousness. Her artworks are distinguished by their expressive use of color as both a structural and emotional element. Through the integration of diverse materials, movement, and rhythm, she creates contemplative visual spaces that invite viewers to engage with the work, construct their own interpretations, and complete the visual narrative.

She has presented numerous solo exhibitions and participated in a wide range of group exhibitions internationally. Her work has received several awards and certificates of recognition in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, Qatar, Turkey,Tunisia, and Jordan. These achievements have strengthened her position within the contemporary Iraqi art scene, while she continues to develop her artistic practice through ongoing research, experimentation, and an openness to diverse artistic media and forms of expression.

Participation with the Iraqi Women Artists  website: 

• Participation in the (Artistic Tales) exhibition in the Jordanian capital, Amman, October 2025

• Participation in the (Nawar 2) exhibition, which was held in the hall of the Amna Suwarka Museum – Sulaymaniyah, in cooperation between the Iraqi Formations website and Cihan University in Sulaymaniyah, on the date of 4/15/2024.
• Participation in the(Nawar) exhibition, which was held in cooperation between the Iraqi Formations website and Cihan Gallery – Cihan University in Erbil, on 11/2/2024.
• Participation in the Huna and Abaq exhibition in the Jordanian capital, Amman, 2023.