Masarratfatima Sulaimani

Short Biography

Masarrat completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts at Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda in 2010 before developing a practice centred entirely on paper as medium and subject. In 2022, she was awarded an Artist-in-Residence grant at the Al Qasimi Foundation in Ras Al Khaimah, where she deepened her research into cultural heritage and ecology. In 2025, she received the Hotel Indigo Artist-in-Residence award and held her solo exhibition 'Rooted Memories: A Journey Through Paper'. She has exhibited at the Shanghai International Paper Art Biennale three times (2021, 2023, and 2025), participated in the International Association of Hand Papermakers and Paper Artists (IAPMA) Paper Biennale ReBloom (2024), and has been a regularly invited artist at World Art Dubai. Her workshops have been conducted for institutions including NYU Abu Dhabi, Dior, Loewe, Dubai Culture, the Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts, and the House of Wisdom Sharjah.

Education

Masarrat holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, India (2010).

Exhibitions

Masarrat's solo exhibition history includes 'Rooted Memories: A Journey Through Paper' (2025). Her extensive group and institutional exhibition record spans the UAE, India, China, and beyond, including Abu Dhabi Sustainable Week (2026); Avid Creative Canvas (2026); Al Murabbaa Art Festival, Ajman (2021, 2024, and 2025, all with installations); Shanghai International Paper Art Biennale (2021, 2023, and 2025); Global Art Odyssey (2025); Sikka Art Festival (2019, 2021, and 2024); World Art Dubai as an invited artist (2020, 2023, and 2025); SDGs through Art at the Blue Zone, COP28; IAPMA Paper Biennale ReBloom (2024); Monsoon Art Camp, Delhi (2024); RAK Fine Arts Festival (2021); SDGs through Art, Expo 2020, UN Pavilion; The Mother of Nations Festival, Abu Dhabi (2021, installation); DIFC Art Night (2020, installation); Women in Art by Arabesque Gallery (2020); World Art Dubai (2019, top 20 emerging artist); Reflection Festival at Al Qasba (2018); Sheikh Zayed and His Legacy at Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi (2018); and numerous group shows across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Ajman from 2017 onwards.

Awards

Masarrat received the Hotel Indigo Artist-in-Residence award in 2025 and the Al Qasimi Foundation Artist-in-Residence grant in 2022. She won an online portrait competition by Hubz Art in 2020, was named a Top 10 Emerging Artist by Rove Hotel in 2020 and a Top 20 Emerging Artist by Rove Hotel in 2019, and was a finalist in the Global Art Awards in 2019.

Artistic Style

Masarrat's practice is built entirely around paper, approached not simply as a surface but as a material with its own history, texture, and cultural resonance. She works across hand-cut paper, immersive installation, and experimental papermaking from plants and pulp painting, drawing her imagery and structural logic from nature, Islamic aesthetics, and the symbolic weight of migration and memory. Her installations in particular create environments that invite contemplation, using the fragility and layered quality of paper to evoke the accumulation of personal and cultural history. The practice connects craft, ecology, and personal narrative within a rigorous material discipline.

Additional Information

Masarrat has conducted workshops and lectures for NYU Abu Dhabi, Dior, Loewe, Dubai Culture, the Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts, World Art Dubai, Al Murabbaa Art Festival, the House of Wisdom Sharjah, HCT College RAK, Manipal University, Ras Al Khaimah Fine Arts Festival, Avid Learning, and several community organisations including workshops for RAK Prison inmates and Sharjah Youth. Her work and practice have been covered by Emirates Woman Magazine, Khaleej Times, Gulf News, The National, Art in the Middle East, Hadara Magazine, Zee Connect, Abu Dhabi TV, Manorama News, Emirates Home Magazine, and others, and she has been published in the Shanghai International Paper Biennale book (2021 and 2023) and the Sikka Art and Design Festival book (2024).