 He has a sister, Rayya, who’s also an artist.He studied graphic arts at the Institute of Fine Arts at Baghdad in 1980 shortly before moving to London to begin his studies in audio visuals at St Martin’s School of Art in 1983.During the years 1977 and 1978, Salim was a member on the Norwegian Thor Heyerdahl’s reed-boat expedition from the river Tigris to Djibouti.