A fine arts festival was held Wednesday at the Ainkawa Youth Club in Erbil's Ainkawa district, featuring dozens of local artists and contributors from the Nineveh Plain.

Organized by the Syriac Culture Directorate, the event showcased classical paintings and sculptures alongside contemporary art forms, including pyrography on paper and wood, as well as modernist styles.

Such events aim to foster connections within Christian communities across Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.

Farah Ashraf, a visual artist from the town of Bakhdida in Nineveh -- also known as Hamdaniya -- told 964media, "I am a student at the Institute of Fine Arts. Today, I participated in this festival held in Ainkawa. I presented a collection of works. I work in pyrography on paper and wood, metal engraving, and also create oil paintings," noting that these forms of art require precision, patience, and skill.

Sculptor Ninos Thabet said, "The Syriac Culture Directorate brought us together today from all parts of our community. It's a major occasion, a special chance for us to connect as people, before we connect through our art."

Thabet said most of his work is made from clay, though he also uses stone, metal, cement, fiberglass, and copper.

"Art is a vast world. An artist focuses on everything. Our mission as artists is to reflect what we see in our community," he said, citing events such as the Hamdaniya wedding fire and migration crises as recent subjects of his work.

On Sept. 26, 2023, a fire broke out at Al-Haytham Wedding Hall in Hamdaniya, killing more than 100 people and injuring over 200.