Asmaa al-issa (b. Baghdad, Iraq) has an artistic practice that responds to her lived experiences and interactions with the land, materials, and people around her. Recent works have focused on the potential of imagining the regeneration of ancestral lands and cultures. asmaa’s projects are sometimes developed alongside workshops and gatherings as a way of nurturing creativity, while building relationships and cross-cultural alliances. asmaa’s formal education includes a MFA in Interdisciplinary Studies from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver (2017), and a BFA in Visual Arts from the University of Calgary (2013). asmaa was a fellow & instructor at the Painting & Printmaking Department at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar (2018 – 2019), an artist in residence at Studio Kura in Itoshima, JP (2019), and at Manarat Al Saadiyat Art Studio in Abu Dhabi, UAE (2022). asmaa’s artistic practice has been supported by her family, Canada Council for the Arts, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Calgary Arts Development, and most recently by the Iraqi American Reconciliation Project. asmaa is currently based in Calgary, Canada.