Dana Dowmut is a 23-year-old Kuwaiti photographer and multidisciplinary artist that finds inspiration from regional history, surroundings and life experiences. A lot of her work revolves around details of her life, especially those involving her relationship with time. Themes of womanhood, sisterhood, friendship and childhood also play a vivid role. Due to the strong representation of women in her art, Dana has had the opportunity to work with Marie Claire, Jean Paul Gaultier, Emirates Women, Puma and other brands that appreciate the sentimental quality of her photos.

When we chatted to Dana, we asked her about what her favorite subject matter was. She explained that she feels most inspired and driven around people in her life who evoke a unique sense of love and that “the women in my life mostly fulfill the roles of a muse as they symbolize different phases of womanhood that I have been through and am yet to go through. I am also inspired by my environment, especially the home I have grown up in.”

She enjoys working on a variety of projects, but editorial projects that let her have the creative freedom to capture the featured artist are her favorite. She loves getting to know the person she is trying to portray in the images. When working with Marie Claire, she thought it was great to see the photos in print and she remembers how the shoot was so sweet and how she was able to capture the love between mother and daughter.

Dana’s passion for art started at a young age, she shared her work online with a small audience of friends and family when she was just 15 years old. When she looks back at these photos, she observes herself coming of age. She finds this to be very touching and feels that her journeying through her archived photography allows her to love the outcomes of her work in different phases. She explains how her narrative hasn’t shifted as she has grown as an artist but has become bolder, more fine-tuned, and she hopes, more personalized.

Dana speaks of her journey and explains that the most “pivotal moment for me was in 2018 when I created the artwork ‘Do You Understand the Violence It Took To Be This Gentle.’ The artwork is a conceptual photographic work of furniture that I had partially submerged underwater in the sea. What stayed with me to this day is the promise I made to myself to follow my creative intuition and to trust it, wholeheartedly”.

Having found inspiration from many elements from her life and surroundings, Dana is also a big reader of Mahmoud Darwish and sometimes titles her work after excerpts from his books. Music, poetry, and history play a predominant role in her work and she also finds inspiration in those around her, in particular her photographer brother, Aziz Motawa, and her artist best friend, Aidha Badr. Oftentimes, they are part of the process of her work behind the scenes.

Aidha Badr, in particular, has heavily shaped her work. Dana met Aidha at a coffee shop in Kuwait and they hit it off immediately. She would even go as far to say that she considers Aidha her muse – she is one of her favorite people to photograph. Aidha understands the premise of Dana’s work and the importance of capturing a real-life friendship in its evolving form. Dana also features in Aidha’s work. Aidha is a painter and has painted Dana as a character in her art pieces. Dana shares that “our artworks are often, and sometimes unintentionally, in dialogue. The final goal of our work is to show a panned-out and honest time capsule of our friendship.” We absolutely love this sentiment and cannot wait to see the culmination of all the pieces of art come together.

Recently, Dana has been working on delivering the messages she has been conveying even more clearly to a greater audience. As well as encompassing practices from her life, Dana feels she still has a lot to share, like her love for music. She is a classically trained pianist and has started incorporating ballads into my video work. Her musical contribution has been a part of the award-winning short film ‘Walking Machine (2020).

She is also working on a short film with the filmmaker Haya Al Ghanem which centers around sisterhood, friendship, and our relationship with memory, these are the predominant themes across most of Dana’s work. The film is set to be released later this year. And she is also working on some personal film projects that involve music composition and dialogue with her grandmother.

UP CLOSE & PERSONAL QUESTIONNAIRE

What do you most value about your friends?
I value their timeless boundless love. I love them to the point of family. Even at an older age, being around friends sometimes feels like you are back in school sharing lunch. There’s always a child-like playfulness to being around them.

Which living person do you most admire?
I would have to say the women in my family. My grandmother, mother, and sister. These women share a lot of similarities with my life. I live and learn through an almost shared paradigm of how the world is.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Sitting on the edge of the bed discussing my day with a friend. Making pasta late at night. Writing love letters and sending them. When street cats come to greet us. Listening to a favorite song over and over again. I have these small moments that come to me naturally I am always thankful for.

What is your most treasured possession?
I would be devastated if I lost my massive box of memories. I am such a hoarder. I have honestly collected every birthday card, letter, and photo, I have ever received. I’m saving them for an archive. I think my favorite thing in that box is a photo of my mother at my age.

What is your greatest fear?
My greatest fear is so personal but I think a lot of people share it. In a sense, my greatest fear is losing my confidence to do what I love to do. Shying away from bigger opportunities. It is important to put yourself out there if you have something important to convey. I also fear losing touch with my roots. A lot of times I find myself writing and sharing work with English titles. I prefer to do so in Arabic just to continue popularizing having conversations about feelings, art, etc in my native language.

What is your most marked characteristic?
I think my most marked characteristic is being a positive energy to be around. I’m generally very appreciative and resilient. I am also quick to make a joke and it gets me in trouble sometimes but who doesn’t love a good joke?

Which talent would you most like to have?
I would love to pick up languages faster. I can see myself living in a lot of different places. I am getting the hang of it slowly but surely. First Spanish for sure, maybe french later, Italian? who knows.

What is one trait you have that you are most grateful for?
I am very grateful to be sweet. I think that to any degree is something people should be proud to be. I’m grateful for being a gentle person by nature. It requires emotional intelligence to be empathic and to understand others.

What is the human trait you most dislike about others?
I don’t like pessimists. I just think it’s funny to view the world like that. This is coming from someone who has truly seen it all. Being open to hope is mental work and not putting that work in will leave you upset with everything. You have to work towards what you expect for yourself to thrive.

What is it that you most dislike?
I don’t dislike many things. Maybe like watching a good show with that one bad actor. Ross from Friends. He’s not a bad actor, but like I said I just cannot stand a pessimist at all. He has the coolest job and great friends. Why is Ross so sad all the time I cannot understand.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
The word smally to refer to cute things has caught on for the past couple of years.

What are your favorite words to live by?
Fear is optional.

Where would you most like to live?
Somewhere by the beach where it’s sunny year-round.

If you could have any job, what would it be?
I would love to study dialects and work in research, this is my academic ambition.

What do you hope for the future?
I hope for a future generation with a heightened awareness of the importance of self. Through craftsmanship, creating things with your own hands, and tributing to your culture for newer generations to be introduced to.

Although Dana is young, her art speaks of her journey through life and her talent is clearly undeniable. We urge you to keep an eye on her! You can follow her on Instagram @Dowmut to see what she has achieved so far and stay current with her latest work.