Emirati Najat Makki on being the only female artist among the 15 showing at Venice Biennale

Sitting in the lounge of her home in the bustling centre of old Dubai, Najat Makki searches for words to express how she feels about her art.

“It is like oxygen,” she says, a smile spreading over her face.

“Yes, art is more important to me than food and water. Some days, I can be so lost in my art that I will forget to eat and drink. No problem, that can come later, my art will always come first.”

One of the UAE’s foremost artists, Makki was the first Emirati woman to be granted a government scholarship in 1977 to study art abroad. She travelled to Cairo and obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in relief sculpture and metal.

When she returned, she began working for the Ministry of Education, conducting art workshops and teacher training. In 2000, she returned to Egypt to complete her doctorate in the philosophy of art.

She is also the only woman among 15 artists chosen to represent her country at this year’s Venice Biennale, where exhibition curator Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi picked five of her early sculptures to take pride of place. For Makki, the works represent the beginning of her career, an era that still holds great sentimental value.

“When I first came out of college I was in the experimental stage,” she says. “I was an emerging artist and I delved into different materials such as metal, wood and fibreglass. These sculptures are from that time.

“I was overjoyed to see the work showing in Venice, and now that these pieces have been exhibited on such an important international stage, they are even closer to my heart.”

Original article by Anna Seaman

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Emirati Najat Makki on being the only female artist among the 15 showing at Venice Biennale