 Al-Damluji moved to London in 1981, after her parents were forced to leave Iraq because they refused to join the Baath Party.Joining her brother Saad in exile, Maysoon graduated from the Architectural Association in 1985 and started a successful practice in West London.Always intimately connected with her homeland, Maysoon was an important fixture in London's Iraqi community, founding and promoting organizations in support of Iraqi arts, including the Iraqi Artists Association, the Kufa Gallery, and the Studio of the Actor.