Hydar Dewachi’s practice fuses imagery (both photography and film), design, and technology, often in a documentary, semi-autobiographical context.
Whether a commissioned or self-produced project, Hydar’s work spans documentary, portraiture and photographing live performances. Ongoing work includes the still life series Adagio; his experiments in colour and abstraction capturing the energy of music; and his life-long journaling projects. Hydar’s film works – often an artistic response to art projects – include art films, performances, profiles and short documentaries. In 2016 he undertook a year-long artist residency with Jerwood Arts to explore the documentation of art projects.
Since 2017, Hydar has been the photographer for the V&A’s flagship Friday Late programme. Other long term and regular clients include Art Fund, The National Gallery, Tate, Acme, and Camden Art Centre.
Hydar has been a guest lecturer on postgraduate courses at universities in London and internationally, and in 2018 and 2019 he mentored artists as part of University of Agder’s Arts-based Ethnography course in Lesvos.
In 2020, along with the writer Mo. Mesrati, Hydar co-founded Akhir Qissa (آخر قصّة), an online platform for original short stories, poetry and other innovative writing in Arabic language.
Hydar lives in London and has a MSc (1999) and BSc (1996) in Electronics and Communications Engineering from the University of Baghdad.
Full list of clients (past and present)
Acme • Arab British Centre • Art Fund • Artsadmin • Barbican Centre • Brent Biennial 2020 • Camden Art Centre • CGP London • City, University of London • Corali Dance Company • Culture+Conflict • Feedback Theatre • Film and Video Umbrella • Freelands Foundation • Furtherfield • Gasworks • Grizedale Arts • Hayward Touring • The National Lottery Heritage Fund • The House of St. Barnabas • Ibraaz • ICA • Jerwood Arts • Kamel Lazaar Foundation (Tunisia) • Kingston Centre for Independent Living • Leighton House • Lower Hewood Farm • The National Gallery • The PappyShow • Parasol Unit • Picturehouse Cinemas • Platform Nord (Norway) • Serpentine Galleries • Spitalfields Music Festival • Station House Opera • Tate • Thames Festival • Theatre with Legs • Townhouse Gallery (Cairo) • UCL • University of Agder (Norway) • University of Westminster • UP Projects • V&A Museum.
» Download the full CV (PDF) (updated February 2017)