Hani Mazhar sits in Spica Gallery in Tokyo's Minami-Aoyama, looking unlike any artist ever met. He wears a double-breasted jacket with silver buttons, carefully pressed trousers, immaculately polished shoes. A perfectionist in more ways than one.
Some 20 of his paintings hang on the walls. On a table, two "books" in exquisite handmade boxes -- limited editions of hand-scribed writings by famed Iraqi sages and associated printed images.
As he explains softly, politely, one edition -- as loaned by promoter Astrid de los Rios, of Montealto International, who curated this East to East show and specializes in what she calls "nomadic artists" -- is based on writings by the 10th century Sufi master al-Hallaj. (The other nine copies are all in museums and private collections.)