Moutashar moved to Paris in 1967 after studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Baghdad – he received a grant to continue his studies at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts. During his first year in Paris he worked primarily on paper creating linear geometric Indian ink drawings as well as gouaches in dense saturated tones. Whilst pursuing these investigations on paper, two decisive moments were to have a lasting influence on his work: first the 1967 exhibition Lumiére et Movement curated by Frank Popper, one of the first institutional shows in France dedicated to kinetic art; and second the discovery of Jean Arp’s work in the summer of 1967. It was the lightness and freedom in Arp’s work that Moutashar was drawn to as well as the playfulness in his works – aspects that Moutashar continues to retain.