Bouthayna Al Muftah received a Bachelor of Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts Qatar in 2009. Initially working in printmaking, typography and documentation, her practice has expanded over time to include large scale installations and performance pieces.

At the core of Al Muftah’s artistic practice is her connection to Qatar’s cultural heritage. In her work she borrows elements from the oral history and folklore of Qatar, readapting symbols and narratives to reflect her own unique relationship to her past and identity.

by interrogating stories and practices from Qatari cultural heritage, she  archives collective memories and personal encounters, through her use of various artistic media.

Memory is a recurring theme in Al Muftah’s practice, and has inspired her to turn to employing book binding, as a way to document and express – in a physical form – her own interpretation of Qatar’s past; creating an autobiography-like experience based on personal encounters and family stories, as a direct way of holding onto memory.

She is keenly aware of how quickly her culture is changing over time and she works to use physical space as a place to both contain local memories and question the changes affecting current cultural practices, which are visibly influenced by technology in an quickly growing focus on individualism.

Bouthanyna Al Muftah lives and works in Doha, Qatar