Spotlight on 173rd Annual Open invited artist, Mohammad Barrangi

As part of the RWA’s 173rd Annual Open exhibition, we invite an artist whose practice demonstrates exceptional ambition and achievement. This year’s invited artist is internationally acclaimed artist and former Paralympian Mohammad Barrangi.

Barrangi’s work has grown out of his own lived experience, shaped by the ‘challenge of finding his place in society’. His practice blurs the boundaries between imagination and lived experience, drawing on ancient Persian history, personal memory and his own mythology. 

This will be Barrangi’s first exhibition in Bristol, where he is developing and presenting a new work: 1001 Nights. The piece will showcase his distinctive creative approach and, like much of his work, feature his iconic Zebra Unicorn: a mythological creature that first emerged from a dream in which he saw a zebra standing quietly beneath a lemon tree. Barrangi has said the Zebra Unicorn is always in motion, representing childhood memories, freedom, protection and memory. 

For Barrangi, sharing his artwork is as much about the responses it inspires as the work itself: “I am looking forward to seeing how visitors respond to my work. I always hope that people can find something of their own experiences in my work, even though it begins with my personal memories, dreams and mythology.” 

You can see 1001 Nights as part of the 173rd Annual Open Exhibition at the RWA, between 12th September 2026 and 3rd January 2027.  

 

Image credit: Mo Barrangi