Amna Al-Nasiri

Amna Al-Nasiri (born 1970) is a Yemeni visual artist, art critic, and academic, she is regarded as a leading figure in the contemporary Yemeni and Arab art world. Amna is also a professor specialising in the Philosophy of Aesthetics at the College of Literature, Sanaa University, Yemen. She has held over 17 solo exhibitions in countries including Yemen, Germany, the Netherlands, Brazil, and Ireland. Al-Nasiri is also a writer, with three published books that explore themes of art and aesthetics.

Early life and education Amna Al-Nasiri was born in 1970 in Radda, Yemen Arab Republic (now Yemen). She grew up in a small family that included her mother, a sister, and two brothers. Her mother, Hila Atiq, was an exceptional woman for her time, she stood out in Radda for her literacy skills, which were uncommon among women in Yemen; particularly in rural areas like Radda. She was not only literate but also skilled in reading and drawing, qualities that played a pivotal role in shaping Al-Nasiri's early artistic education and fostering her passion for the arts.

In several interviews, Amna Al-Nasiri has recounted an anecdote from her second grade, where she failed an art assignment for deviating from the instructions. While her classmates were tasked with replicating a drawing of a tree, she chose to add her own creative touch by incorporating additional branches, which led to her failing the task.

Published works مقامات اللون (Maqamat Al-Lawn, translated as: Scales of Colour: Essays and Insights in Visual Art), (Ministry of Culture 2004), مواقيت لأحزان سبأ (Mawaqeet L'ahzan Saba, translated as: “Times for Sorrows of Sheba”) in collaboration with the poet Ahmed Al-Awadhi, (Ministry of Culture 2004), متوالية القديم والجديد (Matawalya AlQadeem wal-Jadeed, translated as: Matawalya (Old And New Sequence)) in collaboration with Dr. Omar Abdel Aziz, Department of Culture and Information, (Sharjah) 2003,