Hiba Alyawer
Happee Throne | 2022
Hiba Alyawer is a D.C.-based Iraqi-American artist born in Iraq and raised in Kuwait. Alyawer’s artistic career started when she spent two months confined in and out of a basement with her family and 80 neighbors during Desert Storm’s bombing campaign. She painted on scraps of cardboard and newspaper. Art was her only mental refuge from the earth rattling bombing.
While sheltering underground, Alyawer and her neighbors didn’t have consistent access to a bathroom. They built a single bucket toilet with a thin sheet hung for privacy. A teenager at the time, she refused to use the makeshift toilet, opting rather to race upstairs when bombing stopped to use the bathroom.
“Memories of the bucket toilet and the discomfort I felt, is why I reached out to collaborate in painting a Throne inside out. Alyawer said, "The idea of celebrating a bathroom by covering it with my signature joyful colors and shapes, felt like a poetic way of reclaiming the memory of the bucket toilet.... the walls were the perfect canvas to rewrite history."
Today, her work explodes with vibrant colors and evokes a feeling of optimism, cheerfulness and freedom from confinement. She is the founder of HZL Art and Design LLC., creating original paintings and seasonal décor for commercial and residential spaces. As a resident artist of the District of Columbia, Alyawer was recognized by The District of Columbia Office of Cable Television, Film, Music, and Entertainment (OCTFME), as “DC STAR” for the 4th Quarter of 2021. Alyawer is a graduate of 202Create and was also Mayor’s Arts Awards nominee for 2021. Her latest public art sculpture “Happy Dots” was part of the 2021 National Cherry Blossom Festival and is exhibited yearly at National Landing.
Alyawer hopes to ignite the imagination as users get the unique opportunity to walk into a throne featuring her artwork, enjoy a clean bathroom experience, and perhaps snap a #throneselfie or two to share the fun!
Follow Hiba on Social Media
Instagram | @artbyhibaa
Facebook | ArtbyHiba
Other Features
DC Modern Luxury page 44-45, June 2021
Hiba Alyawer in a #throneselfie taken during the Happee Throne creation process.
Alyawer’s “Happee Throne” was launched at an entrance to Yards Park in partnership with the Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District in October 2022.