Shatha Altowai, IIE Artist Protection Fund Fellow
Artist Shatha Altowai Reflects on Yemen’s Civil War Through Painting
Shatha Altowai is an award-winning Yemeni visual artist, whose work reflects aspects of her life and the suffering caused by the ongoing civil war in Yemen. Through her figurative and abstract paintings, Shatha seeks to shed light on issues such as identity, internally displaced persons (IDPs), women, and family.
In early 2014, Shatha was brimming with inspiration for her painting. Only a few months later, her work had all but come to a halt—when the Yemeni Civil War began in September and successive bombardments were launched on civilian areas. Shatha was displaced, moving from one house to another with no stable source of water, electricity, or gas. The situation made it extremely challenging for Shatha to continue. Over the next several years, she created sparingly and collaborated with her husband, 2021 IIE Artist Protection Fund Fellow, composer and musician, Saber Bamatraf.
Between 2016 and 2018, Shatha produced a series of oil paintings in Yemen titled, Internally Displaced Persons. This series is a meditation on community that she began while volunteering at a youth program. These paintings reflected her own circumstances and the challenges she witnessed among those around her.
Acrylic on canvas
75 x 75 cm
In 2019, Shatha discovered and applied to the Artist Protection Fund. She was awarded a prestigious IIE Artist Protection Fund Fellowship and placed in residence at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, The University of Edinburgh (2020-2021), where she received support, space, and freedom to focus on her artistic practice.
In Edinburgh, with freedom of expression, I had more courage and confidence to release what’s in my head.”
Shatha Altowai
During her IIE-APF Fellowship, Shatha launched two exhibitions highlighting the struggles of Yemeni women and families. The first exhibition, The White Canvas, highlighted the struggle and solidarity of Yemeni families surviving war. Using oil and canvas on boards, Shatha conveys the paradox of strength and fragility within their lived experiences. Featured in this exhibition is Family No. 1. This painting depicts a mother holding her children, inspired by the moment Shatha and her family first heard an airstrike approaching in 2015. She won the 2021 John Byrne Award for this body of work. To the right is Family No. 1, 2021, Oil on canvas, 16 x 12 in.
Shatha’s second exhibition, Scratched Identities, examined how community constraints force women to hide their identities and consists of obscured pictures of Yemeni women and refugees.
Photography
Large white board
During Shatha’s IIE-APF Fellowship, she generated new and inspiring bodies of work. Soon after, she became an artist-in-residence at Art27scotland (2022-2023). She has received numerous international recognitions, including the Diversity and Inclusion Fund Award (2023) and the Scottish Women’s Award (2022), as well as a nomination from the Refugee Festival Scotland Media Award (2022).
Shatha is currently a freelance artist based in Edinburgh, UK—and a passionate advocate for improved and accessible opportunities for artists-at-risk—working to ensure a brighter future for those who dare to push the boundaries of art in the face of adversity.
The Artist Protection Fund (IIE-APF), an initiative of the Institute of International Education, fills a critical unmet need by protecting threatened artists and placing them at welcoming host institutions in safe countries where they can continue their work and plan for their futures.