Kurdish Sculptor Ronak Ahmed Exhibits Five Works in Lebanon

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - In Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, an art exhibition titled “Made With Your Magic” has opened its doors to art enthusiasts, bringing together seven artists and sculptors from Lebanon, Syria and Palestine. Among them is Kurdish sculptor and artist Ronak Ahmed from Afrin, Northwest Syria (Western Kurdistan) who is participating with five sculptural works that explore the relationship between the body, memory and identity.

The exhibition is part of an artistic project by Tariq Abu El Fetouh being held across several Arab cities. Its first stage began in Tunis in autumn 2025. Following its Beirut stop, running from July 30 to Oct. 25, the exhibition is expected to travel in the coming months to Damascus, Jeddah and Baghdad.

Ahmed spoke to Kurdistan24 about her participation in the exhibition and the philosophy underlying her artistic work.

Ahmed said her Kurdish identity is embedded deeply within her artistic experience, shaped by her relationship with memory, place and the body.

“My Kurdish identity emerges through my relationship with memory, place and the body. I am a Kurdish artist who grew up in Syria; this means I carry many layers of memory and belonging. Attempts to erase identity, displacement and the violence Kurds have experienced are part of the formation of my intellectual and spiritual self,” she said.

She described her participation as a Kurdish artist in an Arab exhibition as particularly meaningful, emphasizing the role of diverse identities in creating common human understanding.

“The diversity of identities should not be an obstacle to human solidarity; on the contrary, it makes it deeper,” Ahmed said.

The sculptor also explained that she does not view the body merely as a visual instrument. Instead, she considers it a carrier of memories and experiences that may be difficult to express through words.

“My works on the body are like a living memory. I focus on the traces that loss, violence and anxiety leave on a person. The body can carry things that words cannot say. Therefore, I see the body as a ‘document’ and as a metaphor for homeland and wounds,” she said.

In her recent works, Ahmed said, animals also appear as symbols of safety, companionship and hope.

Ronak Ahmed is a Kurdish artist from Afrin. She graduated from the Institute of Fine Arts in Aleppo in 2001 and completed her studies in sculpture at the Institute of Fine Arts in Damascus in 2007.

Between 2000 and 2012, she participated in exhibitions in several Syrian cities, including Aleppo, Damascus and Qamishli. Her works have also been exhibited in London, Brussels, Beirut and Germany.

Ahmed  has also worked as an art instructor with children with special needs. In 2020, she received the Sculpture Award at the “Spring Exhibition” in Damascus.

Her five works in Beirut now place memory, identity and the human body at the center of an exhibition that brings together artists from across the Arab region.