Bouthayna Al Muftah
b. 1987, Qatar

"The arts especially address the idea of aesthetic experience. An aesthetic experience is on in which your senses are operating at their peak; when you're present in the current moment; when you're resonating with the excitement of this thing that you're experiencing, when you are fully alive." - Ken Robinson

Bouthayna Al Muftah, a Qatari multidisciplinary artist, seamlessly navigates painting, printmaking, and documentation. Her evolving practice has created immersive installations and dynamic performance pieces anchored in a profound connection to Qatar's cultural heritage. This heritage, woven from oral history and folklore, becomes a canvas for reinterpretation, reflecting her bond with her homeland's past and its revival. Bouthayna invites her viewers to contemplate the notion of memory, where she explores time and the perception of it along with our characteristics as a collective society - questioning whether heritage and these memories carry the same symbolism over time. Bouthayna's work is distinguished by its palette and signature typography.

Bouthayna Al Muftah received her BA from Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar in 2009. Bouthayna's achievements span numerous notable exhibitions and projects in her young career. Her recent achievements include designing the official FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 poster, representing a distinctive marriage between Qatar's heritage and football. Bouthayna’s work has been exhibited internationally and regionally, including her most recent solo show at Doha's M7 (2022), Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2020), and her participation in Cosmoscow, Moscow (2018). Her work can be seen in the permanent collection of the National Museum of Qatar (2019). Bouthayna has collaborated with world- renowned names such as David Webb Jewels, New York, and a recent collaboration with the House of Dior for the Lady Dior Bag collection (2022).

Credentials

Permanent collection of the National Museum of Qatar
Designed official Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup Poster
International Museum exhibitions
Esteemed Collections

Artist Statement

I find it fascinating how something that you see everyday can look so different, even unrecognizable, when you see a part rather than the whole. I like to translate my ideas and my inspirations in an abstract and less literal way. I would like people to see beauty in the everyday things around them through my artwork. It was through this that I found the link to our local culture. It brought in an element that we are so used to it because we are raised around it, that we forget to see the unique and distinctive qualities embedded within. I like to show my final pieces as though they are a part of my thinking process. I paint with spontaneity and gestural free flowing brushstrokes, aiming to deliver an almost a tangible sentiment in each piece imploring the viewer to reflect and ponder.

Selected Exhibitions & Projects

2024 Boundless/Binding, Subliminal Projects x Emergeast, Los Angeles, USA
2023 Hunna-Elles Group Show, Paris, France
2023 MENA Art Fair Group Show, Markhiya Gallery, Paris, France
2023 VCU-Q 25 year anniversary group exhibition, Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar
2022 ‘Anassir’, Emergeast & M7, Doha, Qatar
2022 ‘Creativity Strikes Gold’ Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts, Richmond Virginia, USA
2022 ‘Designing the Beautiful Game’ FIFA World Cup Poster featured at the Design Museum, London, United Kingdom
2022 ‘Source ‘Markhiya Gallery group exhibition, Doha, Qatar
2021 ‘Jadeed’, Al Bahie Auction, Doha, Qatar
2020 ‘Lived Forward’ Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar
2020 'Lived Forward', Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar
2020 'Doha Jewelry and Watches Exhibition', Doha, Qatar
2020 'Echoes II', Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France
2020 Collaboration with Architects Independent, Doha, Qatar
2019 'Hollow Fragments', Markhiya Gallery, Doha, Qatar
2019 Short film collaboration, Doha Film Institute for United Nations, New York, USA
2019 'Sketchbook', Markhiya Gallery, Katara Art Centre, Doha, Qatar
2019 Commissioned work for Qatar Museums 'Kan Ya Makkan’ Permanent piece hanging at National Museum of Qatar
2018 'Mathaf', Arab Museum of Modern Art
2018 Contemporary Art Qatar installation collaboration, with Au Pont Rouge, St. Petersburg, Russia
2018 Contemporary Art Group Exhibition, Qatar Museums, St. Petersburg, Russia
2018 'Cosmoscow - What We Are Made Of', Russian International Contemporary Art Fair, Moscow, Russia
2018 ECHOS, Solo exhibition, Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar
2018 '50x50', Markhiya Gallery, Doha, Qatar
2018 Der Diwan Cultural House, Berlin, Germany
2017 Qatar Museums, Kraftwerk Berlin, Germany
2017 'Currents', Emergeast group show, ART29, Doha, qQatar
2017 Alumni group exhibition, Virginia Commonwealth University Qatar’s Gallery. The exhibition was in celebration of the University’s 20th Anniversary, Doha, Qatar
2017 Group exhibition, ART 29 Gallery, Doha, Qatar
2016 Reach Out To Asia Charity Auction, Doha, Qatar
2016 Ahl Al Fireej, Doha Jewelry & Watches Exhibition, Doha, Qatar
2016 Smicha Film Collaboration (Drawings for film production), Doha, Qatar
2015 Emergeast Emerging Art Auction, DIFC, Dubai, UAE
2015 Group exhibition, Mykonos, Greece
2014 'Here, There', Al Riwaq Art Space, Qatar Museums, Doha, Qatar
2013 The Mini Art Exhibition, Katara Visual Arts Centre Projects, Doha, Qatar
2008 Wallpaper project, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA

Collaborations

2022 Collaboration with Aubusson Tapestries, France to create bespoke Tapestry
2022 Collaboration with Doha based real estate company Alford Hughes to create a co-orporate book
2022 Collaboration with Fashion Trust Arabia Finalist Designer Yasmin Mansour. Created fabric collection of bespoke exhibition pieces
2022 Collaboration with David Webb Jewels NewYork, on wallpaper wrap at Doha Jewelry and Watches Exhibition, Doha, Qatar
2022 Collaboration with Hamad Jewlery to create bespoke conceptual jewlery pieces. (Based on research extending from the concept linked to Kan ya Makan installation currently at the National Museum of Qatar)
2021 Fashion Trust Arabia collaboration with designer Yasmin Mansour, Doha, Qatar
2021 Fashion Trust Arabia Campaign, Doha, Qatar
2021 UNESCO online video ‘Culture and the Language of Creativity in the Arab Region'
2020 Qatar Foundation ‘Art in Isolation’ collaboration, Doha, Qatar
2019 Collaboration with Qatar Museums on Marchitecture, Doha, Qatar
2019 Collaboration with David Webb Jewels New York, Doha Jewelry and Watches Exhibition, Doha, Qatar
2018 New York Times Art For Tomorrow, Conference Ewerk Berlin, Germany
2016 Qatar Financial Centre Art Book Project, Doha, Qatar
2014-2015 Involvement in the building of Msheireb Museums Project - content development, Doha, Qatar
2005-2010 Tasmeem Doha, VCUQ

Residencies & Workshops

2019-2020 Printing and Printmaking Residency at VCUQ
2007 Tasmeem Doha Conference VCUQ on sustainability in design
2006 Arabic Typography workshop with Reza Abedini Visiting Graphic Designer at VCUQ from Iran

Conferences

2005-2010 Tasmeem Doha
2018 NewYorkTimesArt ForTomorrow conference, Ewerk Berlin, Germany
2019 Ajyal Doha Film Insitute talk, Doha, Qatar
2019 FanoonVirginia Commonwealth University discussion panel. Printing and Printmaking Department Doha, Qatar

Talks

2023 Qatar Museums and Education City Universities Arts, Culture, and Heritage - Inaugural Joint Orientation, Georgetown University - Qatar
2022 International Womens Day talk in collaboration with the Embassy of Holland, Doha, Qatar
2022 Virginia Commonwealth University panel discussion ‘Creativity Strikes Gold’ Richmond,Virginia, USA

Bouthayna Al Muftah b. 1987, Qatar

Bouthayna Al Muftah
b. 1987, Qatar