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Jamila Boughelaf is a London-based artist of Algerian and Italian heritage whose multidisciplinary practice spans visual art, performance, and improvisation. Her work explores identity, social justice and ancestral memory, drawing on personal history and embodied experience as sources of inquiry.
Working primarily with oils and mixed media, Boughelaf creates figurative works that carry a child-like sensibility, reflecting emotional vulnerability and the complexity of human connection. Alongside painting and drawing, she incorporates improvisational processes and mixed media, often using natural materials such as henna, beeswax, and sand to deepen the cultural and tactile resonance of her work.
She also experiments with materials sourced from specific geographic origins. Hand-collected Sahara sand and rock—irreproducible and unique—are integrated through a handcrafted process of selection, grinding, and layering. Through this process, the work becomes a dialogue between human memory and geological memory.
Performance plays a central role in her practice. The act of making — as well as the physical traces it leaves behind — becomes an integral component of the final piece. Boughelaf frequently works with unstretched canvases and textiles, expanding her practice beyond conventional formats into immersive spatial compositions that engage the body and surrounding environment.
Boughelaf holds a Certificate in Fine Art from Art Academy London. Her exhibitions include The Path during the Venice Biennale, Palazzo Pisani-Revedin (2024), P21 Gallery London (2021, 2024), and Drawing Humans at XYZ Gallery, London (2025).
She is also a founding member of Hawiyya Dance Company, an all-women collective using Dabke and contemporary performance to celebrate Palestinian heritage and support young people in decolonising artistic practice.
03.09.2024 - 03.11.2024
The Path, during Venice Biennale,
Palazzo Pisani-Revedin, S. Marco, 4013A, 30124 Venezia VE, Italy
Curated by Amy Jackson and powered by SHIM Art Network
20.06.2024 - 23.06.2024
Art Academy London Graduate Show,
Art Academy London, 165A Mermaid Court, Borough High Street, London
30.09.2022 - 08.10.2022
Elle-Djazair - DZ Festival,
P21 Gallery, 21-27 Chalton St, London NW1 1JD
30.10.2021 - 06.11.2021
Haramacy residency and performance,
The Albany, Douglas Way, London SE8 4AG
20.07.2022 - 20.07.2022
'Curfew' Contemporary Dance Performance,
Bloomsbury Theatre, 15 Gordon St, London WC1H 0AH
17.07.2022 - 17.07.2022
'Curfew' Contemporary Dance Performance,
Unity Theatre, Liverpool Arab Arts Festival
1 Hope Pl, Liverpool L1 9BG
21.09.2024 - 21.09.2024
DZ Festival,
P21 Gallery, 21-27 Chalton St, London NW1 1JD
12.03.2025 - 29.03.2025
Drawing Humans,
XYZ Gallery, 5 Grays Inn Rd, London WC1X 8PH
07.06.2025 - 29.06.2025
Enfield Community Art Exhibition,
Arbeit Gallery & Studios, Rear of 310 Green Lanes
N13 5TT
11.09.2025 - 14.09.2025
From Kitchen Table to Gallery Wall,
Civic Action Lab, Kentish Town, 2 Prince of Wales Rd
06.03.2026 - 08.03.2026
Women's Art Exhibition,
Candid Gallery, 3 Torrens St, London EC1V 1NQ
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