1939 Artist Dia al-Azzawi was born in Al-Baroudia, from the old Baghdad neighborhoods to a Baghdadi family.
1945 – 1958 He studied at Al-Tatbiquat Elementary School, then Al-Numaniya Middle School, then graduated from the Central High School in Baghdad. His first notices were when he saw the drawings of the painter Khalil Al-Azzawi, and the sculptures of Khaled al-Rahhal, who had a place near his family's residence.
1962 He graduated from Baghdad University with a BA in Archeology.
1964 He graduated from the Institute of Fine Arts, obtained a diploma, and joined the Impressionists Group. His works during this period were distinguished by his influence with the Baghdad environment and Iraqi folklore.
1965 He held a solo exhibition at the Wasiti Gallery in Baghdad and participated in the exhibition of eight Iraqi artists in Gallery One in Beirut and the itinerant Iraqi art exhibition in Eastern countries and Europe.
1966 He held a solo exhibition at Gallery One, Beirut.
1967 He participated in the first biennale exhibition in New Delhi, India.
1968 He worked as the Head of the Iraqi Antiquities Department in Baghdad for eight years, during which he supervised the preparation and display of archaeological finds in the Nasiriyah Museum, the Mosul Museum and the Museum of Folk Costumes in Baghdad. He participated in the “Battle Exhibition” at the hall of the National Museum of Modern Art in Baghdad.
1969 Along with other Iraqi artists, such as Rafa Al-Nasiri, Ismail Fattah, Mohammad Muhraddin, Saleh Al-Jumaie and Hashem Al-Samarchi, he founded the "Toward a New Vision Group" and wrote its founding statement, which was later joined by a number of other young artists such as Ali Talib.
1970 He attended the first meeting at the home of artist Jamil Hammoudi with artist Ghazi Al-Kilani, artist Shakir Hassan and artist Rafa Al-Nasiri to discuss the use of the Arabic letter in the painting and it was agreed to organize an exhibition in this direction. He withdrew from the gathering with Rafa Al-Nasiri for a disagreement with Shakir Hassan over how to set up the catalog and name the exhibition One Dimension and in the same year, he held a solo exhibition at Sultan Gallery in Kuwait.
1971 He held a solo exhibition in the hall of the National Museum of Modern Art in Baghdad and participated in the exhibition of modern art in Nicosia in Cyprus, the joint exhibition of four Iraqi artists at the hall of the National Museum of Modern Art in Baghdad and the Iraqi Contemporary Art Gallery in cooperation with the Iraqi Artists Association in Kuwait.
1972 A book entitled "A Witness from This Age - Diaries of a Martyr Who Was Killed in the Events of September 1970" was issued by the Iraqi Ministry of Information and included the artist's drawings and diaries of seven critical days about these events.
1973 He held a solo exhibition at Raslan Gallery in Tripoli, Lebanon.
1975 He held a solo exhibition at the National Museum of Modern Art in Baghdad, participated in the "Cagnes-Sur-Mer International Festival" in France, and the Summer Academy exhibition in Salzburg, and participated in the Iraqi Graphic Art exhibition at the Atelier Gallery in Rabat.
1976 He traveled to London and settled there and worked as an artistic advisor for the Iraqi Cultural Center. He held a solo exhibition at "Nadhar" Gallery in Casablanca, Morocco and participated in the Second Arab Exhibition in Rabat, the Biennale Exhibition in Venice, and the Fifth International Exhibition of Painting in Rijeka.
1977 He began to rediscover the art of the book with what was called the experiment of "artistic notebooks". He is considered one of the pioneers of this method, and many Iraqi and Arab artists followed him later. He held a solo exhibition at "Sultan" Gallery in Kuwait.
1978 He published the book "The Body Anthem" about the massacre in the Tal Al-Zaatar camp in Beirut, with poems by three Arab poets. After that, limited numbers of poetry books were published by some Iraqi and Arab poets, containing his drawings. He held a solo exhibition at the "Patrick Seale" Gallery in London.
1979 He held a solo exhibition at Al-Riwaq Gallery in Baghdad and participated in the São Paulo Biennale in Brazil.
1980 He held a solo exhibition at the "Faris" Gallery in Paris, and at the "Galerie Centrale" in Geneva, and participated in the exhibition Salon de Mat in Paris, FIAC, and the "Salon d’Automne, Espace Cardin" in Paris.
1981 He held a solo exhibition at the "Art Basel - Faris Gallery" in Paris, and at "FIAC - Faris Gallery" in Paris, and participated in the "7th International Graphic Triennial" in Frechen.
1982 He worked as a design director at the Arab Art magazine, until its closure. He held a solo exhibition at the "Intercontinental Hall" in Abu Dhabi, and participated in a group exhibition with Arab artists at the "Graffiti" Gallery in London, and another at the "Faris" Gallery in Paris. He also published the Maqamat Al-Hariri manuscript with al-Wasiti drawings in limited numbers and within the replica technique, and in 2008, he published the Antidote manuscript, which is a medical manuscript translated from Greek also in limited number and within the replica technique.
1983 He held a solo exhibition "Sabra and Shatila" in the hall of the National Council for Art and Culture in Kuwait, and participated in a group exhibition with Arab artists at the Iraqi Cultural Center in London, and another in the "Graffiti" gallery in London.
1984 He held a solo exhibition at the "Alif" Gallery in Washington, USA, and participated in the British International Biennial of Printing in Bradford and the First Arab Contemporary Exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in Tunis.
1985 He held a solo exhibition at the Le Meridien Hotel in Abu Dhabi and participated in an exhibition at the "Musée Hubert d’Uckerman" in Grenoble.
1986 He held a solo exhibition at the Royal Cultural Center in Amman, and participated in the exhibition "Salon Comparisons - Grand Palais" in Paris, exhibition at the Semitic Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge in Massachusetts, and the Contemporary Arab Art exhibition at "The Mall" Gallery in London.
1987 He participated in the 3rd International Biennale of Printing in Taiwan.
1988 He held a solo exhibition at the "Claudine Planque" Gallery in Lausanne. He participated in the Olympiad of Art, National Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul and participated in an exhibition of three Iraqi artists "Azzawi, Jumaie, Nasiri" in the "Kufa" Gallery in London.
1989 He participated in the exhibition of Contemporary Art from the Islamic World at the "Barbican" center in London and the exhibition of Arab Graphic Art at NCCL in Kuwait.
1990 He held several solo exhibitions at "Alif" Gallery in Washington, at "Nakita" Gallery in Stockholm, at "Vanazff" Gallery in Gothenburg and at "Galerie des Art" in Tunis.
1991 He held a solo exhibition in the "50 * 70" Gallery in Beirut and participated in an exhibition of Contemporary Iraqi Art at the University of Nevada in the United States.
1992 He held a solo exhibition at Flandria Gallery in Tangier.
1994 He held several solo exhibitions at "Al-Manar" Gallery in Casablanca, at "Abaad" Gallery in Amman, "50 * 70" Gallery in Beirut, and at "Al-Sayed" Gallery in Damascus.
1995 He held a solo exhibition at "Claude Lemand" Gallery in Paris.
1996 He held a solo exhibition at the Bahrain Arts Center.
1997 He participated in the Five Visual Interpretations exhibition at the "Green Art" Gallery in Dubai.
1998 He participated in a joint exhibition with Rafa Nasiri entitled "Azzawi & Nasiri" at "Galerie La Teinturerie" in Paris.
1999 He participated in the "Summer 99 - Fifty Years of Contemporary Iraqi Graphic Art" festival at Darat Al Funun - Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation in Amman, Jordan.
2000 He participated in an exhibition, Journeys with Contemporary Arts in the Arab World - Contemporary Artists from Mesopotamia at Darat al Funun - Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation in Amman, Jordan
2001 He participated in the exhibition "East – West: Paintings and Books" at the "Claude Lemand" Gallery in Paris.
2002 He held a retrospective exhibition entitled "Azzawi Retrospective" at the Arab World Institute in Paris, and participated in the exhibition of masters of Tondo painting at the "Claude Lemand" gallery in Paris, and the "Kinda Foundation Collection" exhibition at the Arab World Institute in Paris.
2003 He held the "Palestine and Mahmoud Darwish: Large Poleptics, Drawings, Prints and Books" at the "Cité du Livre" in Aix-en-Provence and participated in the exhibition of the "Colas Foundation" at Boulogne-Billancourt and the "Exhibition of Broken Letter, Contemporary Art from Arab Countries" in Kunsthalle in Darmstadt, Germany.
2004 He held a solo exhibition at the "Claude Lemand" Gallery entitled "Recent Paintings" in Paris, and at the Strasbourg "St’Art - Strasbourg Art Fair" and participated in an exhibition of "Art Books and Painting" at the Claude Lemand Gallery "in Paris.
2005 He held a solo exhibition at "Claude Lemand" Gallery, entitled "New Prints" in Paris, and participated in the Exhibition "The Image of a Bird That Does Not Exist - Art Books and Paintings" at the "Claude Lemand" Gallery in Paris, and the "Homage to Shafic Abboud" Exhibition in the "Claude Lemand" Gallery in Paris. As well as participated in "Dafatir. Contemporary Iraqi Book Art" at University of North Texas Art Gallery in Denton, Texas.
2006 He held a solo exhibition at "Kalemmat" Gallery in Aleppo, as well as in "Dar al Funun" in Kuwait, and "Claude Lemand" Gallery in Paris, and participated in the exhibition of the "Portraits of the Bird, Festival of Arts" in Bastia, Corsica, and the "Word into Art: Artists of the Modern Middle East" in the British Museum in London.
2007 He participated in "Dafatir. Contemporary Iraqi Book Art" at The Centre for Book Arts, New York; Minneapolis Athenaeum, Minneapolis, Minnesota; NIU Art Museum, DeKalb, Illinois; The Jaffe Centre for Book Arts, Boca Raton, Florida.
2008 He participated in the British Museum's Word in Art exhibition at DIFC and "Recent Paintings" exhibition at the "Meem Gallery" in Dubai, UAE, and participated in an exhibition "Iraq’s Past Speaks to the Present" at the British Museum in London and the exhibition of Iraqi Artists in Exile at Station Museum of Contemporary Art in Houston, Texas.
2009 He held a retrospective exhibition, ADMAF, Sixth Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Festival, Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi and participated at "Modernism and Iraq" exhibition, Columbia University, Wallach Art Gallery, New York.
2012 An exhibition of Lamentations for My Besieged City, the Exhibition of Modern Arab Art, and Letters in Art were held at the "Meme Gallery" in Dubai, and the Exhibition of Itinerary: Paintings and Gouache at the "Claude Lemand" Gallery in Paris.
2013 He held a solo exhibition "Elegy to My Trapped City" at Meem Gallery in Dubai and "Dia Al-Azzawi, Oriental Gardens, Recent Paintings" at "Claude Lemand" Gallery in Paris. He participated in "Meem Projects 2012. Part 1: Letters in Art. Part 2: Modern Arab Art" at Meem Gallery, Abu Dhabi Art, Manarat Al Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi.
2014 He held a solo exhibition entitled "Dia Al-Azzawi: A Passion for Participation" in the "Claude Lemand" Gallery in Paris, the "Arab Modernism" Exhibition was held at the "Claude Lemand" Gallery in Paris and "Frieze Masters" at Meem Gallery in London. He participated in the "Post-Picasso: Contemporary Reactions" at the Picasso Museum in Barcelona, and the Gallery of Modern Paintings. "The Massacres and Joy of Living" at the "Claude Lemand" Gallery in Paris, the "Non-Bird Picture Exhibition" in the Hospice Saint Roch Museum in France, the exhibition of "Contemporary Arab Artists and Landscapes" and "Landscapes between Reality and Fiction" at the "Claude Lemand" Gallery in Paris. He also participated in the "Mathaf Collection - Al-Majles exhibition, Part 1" in Qatar, and Dia Al-Azzawi Exhibition: Selected Works from 1964-1973 at "Meem Gallery" in Dubai.
2015 An exhibition was held at Gallery "555" in Qatar, and participated in the exhibition "Art Dubai" with "Meem" Gallery in Dubai, and exhibition "Picasso in Contemporary Art" in Germany, and the exhibition "Main Land: Contemporary Art" from the Barjeel Art Foundation in Aga Khan Museum in Canada. And held a solo exhibition entitled "Dia Al-Azzawi Exhibition | Something Different | Sculpture and Weaving" at "Meem Gallery" in Dubai, and the annual exhibition of the Iraqi Plastic Artists Association.
2016 - 2017 An exhibition entitled "I am the Scream, who will give a voice to me? Dia Al-Azzawi: A Retrospective (from 1963 until tomorrow)" was held at Mathaf in Qatar. He also participated in another exhibition called "My Broken Dream" exhibition at "Meem" Gallery in Dubai.
2017 He participated in Abu Dhabi Art Exhibition in Abu Dhabi, and held a solo exhibition entitled "Something Different from Another" at "Karim" Gallery in Amman.
2019 – 2020 He participated in an exhibition "Objects of Imagination – Contemporary Arab Ceramics" in Jordan National Museum Gallery with the participation of forty Arab artists from different Arab countries in Amman.
2020 He participated in the exhibition "Theater of Operations: The Gulf Wars 1991–2011" at the MOMA PS1 Museum in New York and the exhibition "Figure: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950-1980" at the "Green Art" Gallery in New York.
