In a city defined by speed, scale, and spectacle, Fatma Lootah’s work has always moved differently. Her practice unfolds slowly, guided not by declaration but by reflection. For decades, the Emirati artist has built a visual language rooted in memory, time, and emotional presence — one that privileges feeling over explanation.
These qualities come gently into focus in Wishes, Lootah’s recent commission celebrating 20 years of OMNIYAT. Rather than responding to architectural grandeur with monumentality, Lootah offers something far more intimate: a meditation on hope itself.
Based between the UAE and Italy, Lootah works from House 35, her studio in Dubai’s historic Al Fahidi neighbourhood. The space, gifted to her in recognition of her artistic contribution, mirrors her approach — grounded, layered, and deeply connected to place. From here, she has continued to explore painting and mixed media as sites of quiet inquiry rather than fixed narrative.
Wishes emerges from this sensibility. The title is deceptively simple, yet emotionally expansive. A wish exists in a suspended state — neither present nor fulfilled, shaped by desire rather than certainty. Lootah does not attempt to illustrate this condition literally. Instead, she allows it to surface through gesture, movement, and light.
Initially resisting rigid structure, the painting revealed its own direction. Flowing lines, softened forms, and luminous space replace control with surrender. The result is a composition that feels alive — a figure in motion, hovering between grounding and flight, embodying openness rather than conclusion.
In conversation with OMNIYAT’s architectural language, Wishes reflects a shared philosophy of vision and possibility. Where the developer imagines space through form and design, Lootah translates ambition into a human rhythm — one that breathes, dances, and pauses.
Installed within the built environment, the work does not dominate its surroundings. Instead, it listens. It invites stillness within motion, offering a moment of introspection amid the pace of contemporary life. In this way, Wishes becomes less a commemorative artwork and more a shared emotional space — one that mirrors OMNIYAT’s ethos of empowerment, inclusion, and forward thinking.
Through this commission, Fatma Lootah reaffirms her enduring belief in art as a place of sensitivity rather than spectacle. Wishes does not resolve itself. It remains open — like hope itself — quietly reminding us that the most powerful visions often begin as something unspoken.
