A Father’s Archive
An archival research project by Fraglich Publishing, “Twana’s Box” examines the work of photographer Twana Abdullah, produced in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq between 1974 and 1992.
By Gaia Squarci. Photographs by Twana Abdullah.
Moving between formal studio portraits and candid, lively scenes of family gatherings and community life, the book assembles a visual record of a society that has long remained marginal in international narratives. The omnipresence of weapons throughout the images is not incidental: between the mid-1970s and early 1990s, Iraqi Kurdistan was defined by armed conflict between Kurdish resistance groups and the Iraqi central government, amplified by the spillover of the Iran–Iraq War.
The archive was reconstructed by Twana Abdullah’s son, Rawsht, who spent years piecing together his father’s negatives. Twana Abdullah was murdered under a military regime, and Rawsht’s engagement with the archive became a way to navigate loss, and an attempt to reassemble a scattered family history.
This process would also shape his own path: inspired by his father’s images, Rawsht became a photographer himself, working with Metrography—the first independent photo agency in Iraq—before immigrating to Europe.
“Twana’s Box” is published by Fraglich Publishing and is available for €40.
