 While in Rome, he also studied ceramics at San Giacomo.He was very active in Baghdad's arts culture, joining a number of art groups including the Baghdad Modern Art Group (1957) and the "al-Zawiya" group, both groups were concerned with using art to reassert a sense of national identity by integrating Iraq's artistic heritage with international trends.Fatah taught sculpture at the Baghdad Institute of Fine Arts and ceramics at the Academy of Fine Arts at the University of Baghdad.