The Artist
Painter, performer and installation artist, born in Dubai and working between Dubai and Verona.
Biography
Fatma Lootah is one of the pioneering voices of contemporary Emirati art. Born and raised in Dubai, she took part as a teenager in the first group exhibition of art ever held in the UAE, at Dubai’s public library in 1972. She went on to study fine arts at the Art Academy of Baghdad and, from 1979, in Washington D.C. In the mid-1980s she settled in Verona, Italy, where she still lives, and where her encounter with the European performance-art scene became a defining influence on her work.
Since her first solo exhibition in Bolzano in 1984, her work has travelled across Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Asia and the United States, from the Sharjah Biennial (1993) and exhibitions in Geneva, Paris and Munich to a commission from the Abu Dhabi Festival (Perfume of the Earth, 2015). She took part in ADMAF’s Portrait of a Nation in Abu Dhabi (2016) and its presentation at me Collectors Room, Berlin (2017), in the Sharjah Islamic Arts Festival and Expo 2020 Dubai, and in international fairs including Art Dubai, Abu Dhabi Art, MENART Paris and VOLTA Basel. In 2018 she was Nasdaq’s Artist in Residence, with her work shown on the Nasdaq tower in Times Square, New York. In 2025 her light installation Noor ʿAla Noor filled the dome of Al Wasl Plaza at Expo City Dubai, the first time an Emirati artist has used the landmark as a canvas.
In 2010, after visiting one of her exhibitions, H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum gifted her House 35 in Dubai’s Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood. Today it is her studio and gallery: the place where an international journey returns, again and again, to the memory and landscape of the Emirates.
Her practice moves between painting, performance, mixed media and installation, on canvas, wood, plexiglass and mesh, and is shaped by recurring themes: femininity, memory, heritage, landscape, belonging and spirituality. Her work has been featured in Vogue Arabia, Marie Claire Arabia, The National and Brownbook, which interviewed her for its Dubai issue in 2024, and in 2026 she was named among Fast Company Middle East’s Most Creative People in Business.
On her practice
“The desert gave us our wealth before the oil.”
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On light
Each of her works, she has said, holds a point of light that she searches for and tries to pass on to others.
The National, November 2025
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On women
In her series Women Scented in Oud she chose to show Arab women through their strength and beauty, rather than their struggle.
ADMAF, Portrait of a Nation, 2016
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On the body
She applies colour with her hands, at times even her feet, so that she can feel the act of creation with her whole being.
ADMAF, Portrait of a Nation, 2016
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On the eyes
She spends a long time on the eyes of her figures, so that the soul can be seen through them.
The National, 2013
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On giving
Art, for her, is meant to give, not to take: she invites the viewer to come close to a painting and feel its energy.
Art in the Middle, 2025
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On making
Of Wishes she recalled that the painting resisted the structure she first imposed, until it became a woman flying peacefully in light.
Art in the Middle, January 2026
Honours
- 2010House 35 in Al Fahidi, gifted by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum after visiting one of her exhibitions
- 2012Forum Prize (Applied Direction), 5th Sharjah Calligraphy Forum, opened by the Ruler of Sharjah
- 2018Nasdaq Artist in Residence, Times Square, New York
- 2025Noor ʿAla Noor: first Emirati artist to use the dome of Al Wasl Plaza as a canvas
- 2026Fast Company Middle East, Most Creative People in Business
Institutions and milestones
Institutions, festivals and milestones along her path, from 1972 to today.
- 1972Dubai Public LibraryFirst group exhibition of art held in the UAE
- 1993Sharjah BiennialSharjah, UAE
- 2010House 35, Al Fahidi Historical NeighbourhoodStudio and gallery gifted by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
- 2012Sharjah Calligraphy ForumForum Prize, Applied Direction
- 2015Abu Dhabi Festival · Emirates PalaceCommissioned artist, Perfume of the Earth
- 2016ADMAF · Portrait of a NationEmirates Palace, Abu Dhabi
- 2017me Collectors Room / Olbricht FoundationPortrait of a Nation, Berlin
- 2018NasdaqArtist in Residence, Times Square, New York
- 2018–19Sharjah Islamic Arts FestivalMiraj, monumental installation
- 2021–22Expo 2020 DubaiWorld Expo · pavilion presentation of her work
- 2022UAE Embassy, Washington D.C.While the Coffee Grounds Settle, Fathom Gallery
- 2023Emirates Fine Arts SocietyHeritage and Creativity, Sharjah
- 2025Dhai Dubai · Expo City DubaiNoor ʿAla Noor, Al Wasl Plaza
- 2025–26Sharjah Calligraphy MuseumSiraj, museum exhibition
- 2026Fast Company Middle EastMost Creative People in Business
Collections
Works by Fatma Lootah are held in the offices of UAE government entities, in luxury hotels and by luxury real-estate developers. Her work has also been presented in temporary exhibitions at international museums.
- OMNIYAT, Dubai
Wishes, 2026, commissioned by the ultra-luxury real-estate developer for its 20th anniversary. - Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto
A printed-cotton face mask designed by the artist in Verona (2020), acquired for the museum’s Clothing the Pandemic collection. Accession no. 2021.69.3, gift of the Kinda Foundation of Contemporary Arab Art.