Biography

Thuraya Al-Baqsami is a visual artist and writer whose work engages with poetics and politics, feminism and the feminine. She has published novels, children’s books and short story collections.

Al Baqsami’s work has been shown in solo exhibitions at Sharjah Art Museum (2017); Korea Foundation, Seoul (2008); Krakow University Museum, Poland (2003); and Ministry of Culture, Sofia, Bulgaria (2002), among others. Her work has also been featured in many group exhibitions, including the First Biennial of Islamic Arts, Tehran (2000) and Sharjah Biennials 2 and 4 (1995, 1999).

Her work can be found in the collections of the Kuwait National Museum; British Museum, London; Museum of Human Rights, Geneva; Museum of Contemporary Islamic Art, Amman; Office of the Ruler of Sharjah; and Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation, among others.

She has written several books, including the exhibition monograph Lasting Impressions: Thuraya Al-Baqsami (Sharjah Art Museum, 2017); A Fish Riding a Bicycle, (Arab Scientific Publishers, 2015); and Women of the World: A Global Collection of Art (Pomegranate Communications, 2000).

Among her many awards are the Nova Award for the Arts, Hungary (2010); Salvador Dali International Fine Arts Prize (2003); Prize for Art Activities, European Union of Arts, Prague (2001); and Franz Kafka Medal, Berlin (2001).

She has been a member of the Kuwait Arts Association since 1969. She is also a founding member of the Friends of Art for the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Association of Amateur Crafts, Kuwait Science Club.
Al-Baqsami studied at the College of Fine Arts, Cairo (1972–1974), and pursued a bachelor’s degree in fine arts and a master’s in book illustration from the Surikov Arts Institute, Moscow (1974–1981).

Al-Baqsami was born in 1951 in Kuwait, where she continues to live and work.

SAF Participation:
March Meeting 2021
Artist Talk: Thuraya Al-Baqsami (2016)
Sharjah Biennial 2 and 4

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