Her work views the healing potential of the natural world through an Islamic lens, with the practice of dhikr (remembrance of God) guiding her process. Meryem’s paintings come from sustained attention to the earth, contextualised by experiences of ritual, prayer and contemplation (tadabur), attending to the kinships between faith and nature.
Alongside painting, her studio practice involves gathering rocks, earth, and organic material, that shape a wider body of work extending into pigment making, clay, photography, video and bookmaking.
Recent exhibitions include her fourth solo show Water Has Memory in Morocco, alongside group presentations across Japan, the UK, US, and UAE. She has contributed to panels at the Tate Modern and Southbank Centre, and served on the jury for The Supporting Act Foundation.
@meryemmeg
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Solo
2023 ذاكرة الماء Water Has Memory, Le Jardin Secret, Marrakesh, Morocco
2019 リマインダー Reminders, Tenjinayam Artist Studio, Sapporo, Japan
2016 Appropriating Appropriation, London, UK
2015 Meghraoua, Brixton East, London, UK
Group
2024 I Can’t See It, But I Trust It, Yumna, MOMO festival, Rotterdam, NL
2023 Harvest Festival Marrakech, Morocco
2022 Mutul Empathy, Ai mi Tagi , White Conduit Projects, London
2021 East-East Vol.4: The Curio Shop, Part Three BLOCK HOUSE B1F, Tokyo, Japan
2021 East-East Vol.4: The Curio Shop, Part Two, ILY Art Hours, Tokyo, Japan
2021 East-East Vol.4: The Curio Shop, Part One HB.Nezu, Tokyo, Japan
2021 When Was The Last Time You Saw The Sea, Youkobo Art Space, Tokyo, Japan
2018 Pressure Makes Diamonds, Rich Mix, London, UK
2018 Neither Here Nor There, The Foundry, London, UK
2018 A River Flowing, East of West, Santa Fe, US
2017 North African Pop Art, P21 gallery, London, UK
2017 Nasty Woman, Laconia Gallery, Boston, US
2017 The Salon, The Peabody Essex Museum, Boston, US
2017 Hammam Tomorrow, Sikka Art Fair, Dubai, UAE
2017 Folkloric Hybrids, Anti gallery, Boston, US
2016 No Shade, Hardware Studio, LA, US
2016 Arab Women Artists Now, Rich Mix, London, UK
2014 The New Venus, Starving arts, London, UK
Residencies
2019 Tenjinayama Artist Studio, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
Rock to Paint Workshops
2025 Intā, Antwerp, Belgium
2024 Malka Varna, Varna, Bulgaria
2023 Harvest Festival, Marrakech, Morocco
2023 WeTransfer, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Contributions
2025 Participant : Offprint London with Studio Salasil, UK
2024 Participant : Focal Point, Sharjah Book Fair with Studio Salasil, UAE
2023 Jury : The Supporting Act Foundation - Creative Bursary, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2022 Mentor : Datteltaeter Academy, Berlin, Germany
2019 Panelist : Critical Contemplations: On Repair’, in response to the Kader Attia: The Museum of Emotion, Southbank Center, London, UK
2016 Panelist : Cloud Communities and the Online Gallery, Tate Modern, London, UK
2026 Water Ecologies ~ Melting, Institute for Postnatural Studies
2026 Histoire mondiale des jardins, École du Louvre, Online
2025 Aux couleurs du temps : paysages de l'Europe du Nord, de la Renaissance au XIXe siècle, École du Louvre, Online
2023 Ochre, Transforming Earth to Pigment, School of Traditional Arts
2013 Masters, University of Arts London, UK
2008 — 12 Bachelors, Leeds College of Art, UK