1929 Artist Widad Al-Orfali was born in her grandfather's house Al-Orfaliyah district in the capital, Baghdad, Iraq.
1936 She studied elementary school at Madam Adel School, then at Nuns School (later Al-Aqeedah) and completed her primary and secondary school stages in Baghdad, and began her interest in drawing since her childhood.
1949 - 1950 Graduated from the American School in Baghdad and gave a speech at the graduation ceremony.
1950 - 1952 She entered Beirut University for Women to study art and social studies for a period of three years.
1952 - 1954 She worked as a teacher in Al-Karkh Kindergarten and Al-Saadoun Kindergarten.
She learned music for four years, and her teacher was Italian by origin, called "Aldo Kani".
1956 She moved to Queen Alia College in Baghdad and completed the rest of her studies. In addition to the social studies B.A. she took art lessons and the artist Khaled Al-Jadir was her teacher and her colleague was Kadhum Haider.
The Artist is a Member of the Iraqi Artists Association & Artist Union.
1956 She participated in the Artist Association exhibition held at the Olympic Club.
1957 She participated in "The Fine Arts" exhibition held at Al Mansoor Club and exhibited three oil paintings entitled "A Village, Flowers, Study" and participated in "The Rejections" exhibition held at the Women’s Union which was visited by the late His Majesty King Faisal II who bought one of her paintings and placed it in his palace.
She participated in most of the exhibitions organized by the Iraqi Artists Association.
1957 - 1958 She taught in Al-Sharqiya High School for a short period.
She participated in most of the exhibitions of the Women's College, the Institute of Fine Arts, and the Iraqi Artists Association exhibitions.
1959 - 1962 She studied and also graduated from the Institute of Fine Arts (Evening Section) in Baghdad - Iraq. Among her professors were the artists Faik Hassan, Faraj Abbo, Atta Sabri, and Ismail Al Cheikhli and among her colleagues, was the artist Muhammad Mahruddin. Her Anatomy class teacher was artist Dr. Nori Bahjat and in Sculpture class was artist Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Kilani and Ceramics teacher was artist Valentinus. Naziha Selim was also a professor at the institute and a friendship formed between them and she visited the lessons of the artist Jewad Selim in the sculpture hall in the institute and she learned from him and was greatly influenced by the Pioneers Group.
She worked in several places, including the School Illustrations Center, took over the task of advertising in one of the factories from 1961 to 1963, and became responsible for the Museum of the Heritage Directorate, and worked on documenting Iraqi folk industries and crafts, such as her research on the profession and market of engraving on copper in the seventies.
1961 She participated in the second annual exhibition of the Iraqi Artists Association, and exhibited an oil painting.
1962 She participated in the second annual exhibition of the Iraqi Artists Association and exhibited 3 oil paintings and married Diplomat Mr. Hameed Abbas Al-Azzawi and traveled with him to several European, African and American countries, and visited many museums and art galleries in these countries.
1964 She held her first solo exhibition at La Redout Club in Germany where she exhibited 50 oil paintings, and it was inaugurated by the Iraqi ambassador in Bon Jaber Omar, and among the attendees was the late His Majesty King Hussein bin Talal and German Chancellor Adenauer, who acquired one of her works.
1966 She held a second solo exhibition in New York upon the invitation of the Friends of Middle East Association and it was visited by the permanent representative of Iraq at the United Nations, Kadhum Al-Khalaf. The artist exhibited 25 oil paintings, 10 watercolors and 25 sketches that were completed within 18 months and her works reflected her new style in where she combined abstraction and realism in her works.
1968 She held her third solo exhibition entitled "Tragedy of Palestine" at the Jordan Hotel in Amman and it was attended by the Prime Minister of Jordan, Bahjat Talhouni, and the theme of the exhibition was on the Palestinian issue and the June setback, in which 50 paintings were exhibited.
1969 She participated in a joint exhibition with Mrs. Murak Makai, by invitation from the British Parliament - London, England.
1970 She participated in an exhibition organized by the Palestinian Artists Union on the anniversary of the Battle of Dignity in Amman. Among her most prominent paintings were "City of Tears," "Without Fathers," "Fedayeen for a Just Cause" and "Nothing But Horror".
1970 / 1971 She held a fourth solo exhibition, entitled "Spring in Jordan," at the Qadis Gallery in Amman, Jordan, in which 50 paintings about spring were shown.
1972 She studied enamel inlay on copper and Batik on cloth arts in Paris.
1973 While she was accompanying her diplomat husband in Spain, she visited Andalusia in the southern region, which constituted a big turning point in her art. She was influenced by the Andalusian architecture, Islamic art and ornamented decorations of the palaces and mosques. After that she switched from the expressive and realistic style to fantasy by painting arabesque and Middle Eastern dream cities where she found an aesthetic and civilizational convergence between Baghdad, her city, and the cities of Andalusia.
1975 She held a fifth solo exhibition at the Jewad Selim hall in the National Museum of Modern Art in Baghdad.
March 5, 1981 She held a sixth solo exhibition entitled "Ornaments from Arab Folklore"; the debut of her new style, at Al-Wasiti Hall in Baghdad.
October 24, 1983 The artist founded Al-Orfali Art Gallery in Baghdad, which was considered the first private hall in Iraq. It has taken care of and sponsored the plastic arts in addition to the performing and musical arts, and it has held many cultural seminars and organized many social and heritage events and held dozens of artistic events in it over two decades. She held her seventh solo exhibition entitled “Cultural Embellishments” on the same day of the opening.
1986 She held her eighth solo exhibition entitled "Inspired by Heritage" at the Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation at the Hall of the Royal Cultural Center in Amman, Jordan.
1991 She participated in an exhibition with other Arab artists in Amman, Jordan.
1993 She held her ninth solo exhibition entitled "Fantasia 1" at Al-Orfali Art Gallery in Baghdad.
1994 She held her tenth solo exhibition entitled "Fantasia 2" at Al-Orfali Gallery in Amman, Jordan.
1995 She held her eleventh solo exhibition entitled "Baghdad, my city" at Al-Orfali Art Gallery in Baghdad.
1996 She held her twelfth solo exhibition entitled "A Thousand and One Nights" at Al-Orfali Gallery in Amman, Jordan.
1997 She held her thirteenth solo exhibition entitled "Dream Cities 1" at Al Manzool Gallery in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
1998 She held her fourteenth solo exhibition entitled "Dream Cities 2" at Al Dar Gallery in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
1999 She held her fifteenth solo exhibition on photography for sections of her paintings at Al-Manzool Gallery in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
1999 She held her sixteenth solo exhibition in Doha, Qatar, by invitation from the Qatari Artists Union.
2000 She opened the new Al-Orfali Art Gallery in Baghdad by holding her seventeenth solo exhibition titled "50 Years of Art …and the Giving is Ongoing" exhibiting some of her works from 1950 to 2000.
2002 She held her eighteenth solo exhibition entitled "Dream Cities 3" at Al-Orfali Art Gallery in Baghdad.
2004 She held her nineteenth solo exhibition entitled "Fantasy 3" at the UNESCO Palace Hall in Beirut, Lebanon.
2005 She held her twentieth solo exhibition entitled "The Twentieth" at Al-Manzool Gallery in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
2011 She held her twenty first solo exhibition and release of her debut music album "Rhythms of Arabia – a journey from Andalusia to Baghdad" at 4 Walls Gallery – Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
2011 She held twenty second solo exhibition and signing of her music album "Rhythms Of Arabia" at Al-Orfali Gallery Amman, Jordan
2015 Launched and signed her memoire book "Swalef (Chronicles)" at Al-Orfali Gallery, Amman, Jordan.
2017 Launched and signed her second book "Khawater (Thoughts)" portraying a selection of her own poems, reflections and songs.
The artist is interested in fine arts and is considered one of the fine art pioneers along with her interest in musical arts, organizing cultural events and managing a gallery that played a positive role in supporting the Iraqi art movement in the eighties and nineties. And she continues to develop her artistic and creative skills in her distinctive painting style which is considered unique to the Iraqi and Arab arena as well.
