NASO interviews: Hala AlJaafari
On Tracing Memory & Emotion
“I’m drawn to that space between what we feel deeply and what we are allowed to say out loud.”
On Beginnings & Background
Hala Aljaafari, a Syrian visual artist and interior designer now based in Doha, Qatar, has built a practice that delicately interlaces memory, human emotion, and personal narrative. Working primarily with oil, acrylics, and mixed media, she creates paintings that are deeply rooted in both lived and imagined experiences.
Although she began painting as a child and took courses as a teenager, her formal training led her into interior design—a field she pursued for several years before realizing its limitations in terms of personal expression. In 2019, she made the definitive choice to dedicate herself to art. “It became clear to me that this was not only my passion,” she reflects, “but also the most honest and fulfilling way to express my thoughts and experiences.”
On the Concept of Home
For Aljaafari, the notion of “home” is both literal and metaphorical. Syria remains her homeland in a physical sense, but home also emerges wherever she finds comfort, family, and belonging. Having lived across Syria, Jordan, several U.S. states, and now Qatar, her life has been marked by displacement and transition. This experience of continual relocation informs her art, giving rise to recurring explorations of memory, identity, and belonging.
“Each move expanded my perspective,” she notes, “allowing me to see displacement not only as a challenge but also as a source of creative richness.” Settling in Qatar has provided stability and an environment that values the arts, allowing her to deepen her artistic practice.
On Emotional Tension on Canvas
Aljaafari’s work often inhabits the delicate space between internal thoughts and external realities. Rather than working from rigid plans, she allows emotions to guide the process. Colors play a vital role, shaping the mood and atmosphere of each piece, while human figures carry the emotional weight of her narratives. Animals also appear as recurring symbols, embodying feelings too elusive for direct articulation.
Her canvases, therefore, become sites of negotiation—spaces where unspoken emotions and silent tensions are given form. “I’m drawn to that space between what we feel deeply and what we are allowed to say out loud,” she explains.
On Memory, Displacement & Personal Histories
Displacement remains central to Aljaafari’s work, echoing her own life of movement and transition. Her paintings are not merely depictions of spaces, but rather expressions of emotional landscapes that linger and travel with her.
She draws heavily on personal encounters, blending her own memories with the stories of others. “Even when I engage with someone else’s narrative, it passes through my own filter of emotions and imagination,” she says. This fusion creates a layered visual language where personal and shared histories coexist.
A striking example of this process is her painting Fully Elsewhere, inspired by a conversation with a friend about the consuming nature of love. Through textured layers, dreamlike palettes of blues, greens, and purples, and symbolic animals, the work evokes the sensation of drifting between reality and imagination.
On Memory & Imagination
When asked whether her work is more rooted in lived memory or imagined emotional landscapes, Aljaafari insists on their inseparability. Her memories provide the foundation, but imagination expands them into realms where feeling and symbolism converge. This duality allows her to create works that transcend the literal, offering instead emotional truths that resonate universally.
Her background in interior design also shapes her approach. Attentive to balance, composition, and spatial harmony, she treats her canvases as designed interiors—each element carefully positioned to generate a particular emotional atmosphere.
On Cross-Cultural Encounters
Aljaafari’s journey as an exhibiting artist has taken her across different cultural contexts, from Syria to Turkey, Dubai, Tunis, and Qatar. Each encounter with a new audience has enriched her understanding of art’s ability to connect across differences.
“Listening to diverse interpretations of my work,” she explains, “has given me fresh perspectives and broadened my sense of how art resonates globally.” These experiences not only expanded her visibility but also reshaped her practice, as each exhibition became a dialogue rather than a monologue. In Dubai, she witnessed how contemporary audiences connected with themes of memory and displacement in ways that echoed their own transnational lives. In Tunis, she found herself in conversation with viewers who responded to the intimate, emotional threads of her work, connecting it to broader histories of resilience and cultural identity.
Such encounters, she emphasizes, have deepened her conviction that art is a universal language—one capable of carrying personal stories into collective spaces. “Every new cultural context,” she says, “adds another layer to my paintings, reminding me that while my work begins from personal memory, its meanings continue to evolve in the eyes of others.”
