Farah Maktari on Art, Her Heritage, and Reimagining Yemeni Culture

Farah Maktari is a multidisciplinary artist and designer whose work explores the reinvention of culture and heritage. Born in Yemen and later moving to England in her teenage years, she pursued a Fine Art BA at Chelsea College of Arts in London. Her practice spans painting and textiles, with a strong focus on preserving Yemeni culture and challenging Western media narratives. By weaving history, mythology, and her own personal memories into her work, Maktari creates a dialogue about how culture is remembered, categorized, and reimagined. 

In a conversation with New Wave, she shares her artistic vision and process

Farah Maktari on Art, Her Heritage, and Reimagining Yemeni Culture.

Farah Maktari in her studio. Image by Emma Cormier Simola.

Can you tell us about your background?

I grew up in Yemen and moved to London when I was eight. Initially, I wanted to pursue fashion, but during high school, I shifted my focus to fine art. Creativity has always been my language, it’s how I think and how I live. From there, I began working with textiles and painting, which eventually led me to study Fine Art at Chelsea.

How are your origins reflected in your work?  

I’ve always felt there was so much more that could be done to preserve Yemeni culture in more nuanced and creative ways. I feel that the way the media perceive Yemen is so different from my own personal experience or from what I understood from conversations with my parents. Western media often reduces Yemen to conflict, but my experience paints a much richer picture. That led me to explore mythology and history as tools for reinterpreting culture. My work isn’t just about heritage; it’s a vessel for a larger conversation about memory, categorization, and how society uses culture. If you’re going to be labeled as “other,” how can you subvert that? Fantasy and imagination are a crucial starting point in my approach.

Do you have any thoughts on how your work is perceived? 

My work’s focal point is rooted in personal experiences - memories, family, childhood, and culture, but it extends into a broader commentary on community and society. I don’t try to dictate how people should interpret it; I am more interested in seeing how my work makes people think and how they find themselves within it. I want the work to raise questions rather than provide answers. I hope people find their own meaning in it, through application of their own histories and knowledge, while still recognising my presence within the work.

Cultural Reinvention by Farah Maktari, 2022.

You work with painting and textiles. Do  you have a preferred medium? 

Both mediums speak distinct languages. I love textiles because they embody humanity and inherently suggest human presence - I am always looking for human presence without a figure. Textiles are meant to be worn, held, and interacted with. That ties into my interest in culture. There’s always a present sense of absence in history and archives, and textiles can embody that. Painting, on the other hand, allows me to create texture and depth in a different way. I see them as equally important.

Farah Maktari in her studio. Image by Emma Cormier Simola.

Can you walk us through your artistic process?

Words resonate with me so writing plays a key role in my process; certain words or phrases from books, films, or documentaries will strike a chord within me, and I’ll keep them in mind as I develop ideas. I start each piece with a question, and rather than looking for definitive answers, I use my work to create commentary - each question is answered with more questions. The crucial part is sitting with the ideas and vision enough for it to refine before jumping straight in. Most of the time I am working on three projects at once; that really helps to push the boundaries of what I can give to each project as I learn new skills and interchange them both technically and conceptually. And once I’m done with one piece, I will base the next on it, and so on. So all my works are inspired by each other. Like the symbolism of the snake eating its own tail.

Can you walk us through your artistic process?

Words resonate with me so writing plays a key role in my process; certain words or phrases from books, films, or documentaries will strike a chord within me, and I’ll keep them in mind as I develop ideas. I start each piece with a question, and rather than looking for definitive answers, I use my work to create commentary - each question is answered with more questions. The crucial part is sitting with the ideas and vision enough for it to refine before jumping straight in. Most of the time I am working on three projects at once; that really helps to push the boundaries of what I can give to each project as I learn new skills and interchange them both technically and conceptually. And once I’m done with one piece, I will base the next on it, and so on. So all my works are inspired by each other. Like the symbolism of the snake eating its own tail.

Zawba3a,  Farah Maktari, 2023. 

What are the challenges that you have to face as a young artist? 

Navigating life after graduation can be difficult. There’s no single path to follow, and it’s up to you to decide how to bring your work to life, based on your own proclivities and artistic practice. The sheer number of directions you can take is both exciting and overwhelming and it’s so key to find the avenue that will bring your work to life and its full potential. I’m grateful that a lot of opportunities have come forward and given me the space to grow and figure out where I want to go next. I'm very dedicated to making work and bringing something new.

Al Nahdtha, Farah Maktari.

Do you have a dream venue where you’d love to showcase your work?

I feel like I don't have a particular gallery or space, but I would need the space itself to resonate and interact with the work. I’m drawn to architectural spaces with their own personality or history - spaces that I can work alongside to create a dialogue with my pieces (?)

If you could give your younger self some advice, what would it be? 

Stay organized and relax; you don’t need to be as stressed as you think. 

With her artistic vision, sheer determination, and commitment to reinterpreting culture, Farah Maktari is, undoubtedly, an emerging artist who will be sure to leave her mark on the art world.