Artist Since 1996
Bîstyek
Born in 1996 in Aleppo, Syria
Lives and works in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Bîstyek is a Kurdish-Syrian Canadian multidisciplinary visual artist based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. His practice spans painting, sculpture, installation, and public art, exploring themes of identity, displacement, memory, belonging, cultural representation, and the Kurdish experience. Drawing from personal history, childhood memories, migration, and resettlement, his work examines how individual experiences connect to broader histories of conflict, survival, and cultural identity.
Working primarily with acrylic and spray paint, Bîstyek creates large-scale figurative works characterized by bold colour, expressive gestures, and layered symbolism. His paintings often draw from personal memory, Kurdish culture, childhood, and experiences of displacement, reflecting the emotional complexity of migration, protection, survival, and belonging. Across painting, sculpture, public art, and immersive installation, he transforms personal experiences into visual narratives that connect individual memory with broader human experiences.
Born in Aleppo to a Kurdish family originally from Afrîn, Bîstyek later resettled in Canada and began developing his artistic practice in Winnipeg. His experiences of displacement and rebuilding a sense of home have become central to his work. Kurdish history, cultural memory, family, childhood imagery, and questions of visibility and representation frequently appear throughout his practice.
Bîstyek has presented solo exhibitions across Canada, including Forbidden Colours at Winnipeg Art Gallery–Qaumajuq (2025–2026), Inside Out at Katie + Gunner Gallery (2024), This Is How I Do It (Toronto, 2022), Fuck War (Winnipeg, 2022), Inside Pain (Toronto, 2021), and Bîstyek (Winnipeg, 2020). His work is held in private collections in Canada and internationally.
Alongside his studio practice, Bîstyek creates large-scale public artworks, murals, sculptures, and community-based projects. His public work engages with cultural visibility, migration, diversity, collective memory, and shared space while bringing contemporary art into everyday public environments..
CV
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2025–2026 — Forbidden Colours, Winnipeg Art Gallery–Qaumajuq (WAG-Qaumajuq), Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
2024 — Inside Out, Katie + Gunner Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
2022 — This Is How I Do It, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2022 — Fuck War, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
2021 — Inside Pain, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2020 — Bîstyek, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023 — Vivid Encounters, Galerie Buhler Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Awards & Nominations
2026 — RBC Rising Artist Award, Nominee
Selected Murals & Public Art
2025 — Dance Your Way
Welcome Place, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Five-storey public mural created in collaboration with Indigenous artist Jeannie White Bird.
2024 — Central Park Street Banners
Central Park, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Public art commission by the Winnipeg Arts Council × West End BIZ.
2024 — Lights on the Exchange
Exchange District, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Public art commission by the Winnipeg Arts Council.
2021 — Fort Gibraltar Trail Pavement Mural
The Forks, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
2021 — Refugees
58 Albert Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Selected Collaborations
2025 — Home Away From Home, Thanks Joey × Maktaba Bookshop × Peace Collective
2023 — I’m Not Just a Refugee, FFO × Bîstyek
Selected Press & Features
2026 — Winnipeg Free Press, “Forbidden No More”
2026 — Winnipeg Art Gallery–Qaumajuq, “Reclamation of Forbidden Colours”
2025 — Al-Tiba9, “10 Questions with Bîstyek”
2024 — The Uniter, “Origin Stories: Bîstyek”
2024 — Rûdaw / Avesta, “Werin em şêwekar (Bîstyek) nas bikin”
2022 — Winnipeg Free Press, “Art of War: Winnipeg painter’s first-hand experience with conflict colours his new exhibition”
2021 — BlogTO, “An artist that's having his first Toronto show right now has been compared to Jean-Michel Basquiat”
2021 — Toronto Star, “Self-taught artist whose work has been compared to the late Basquiat looks forward to first show in Toronto”
2020 — The Uniter, “Outsider Artist Has First Solo Exhibition: Bîstyek’s Paintings Are Moving and Impressive”
2020 — Galleries West, “A Syrian refugee in Winnipeg holds his first exhibition to help others understand the terrible costs of conflict”
2020 — Winnipeg Free Press, “A Passion Grows from Pain”
2020 — CBC, feature on Bîstyek’s first solo exhibition in Winnipeg
Documentary
When I Go Outside
When I Go Outside is a documentary directed by Geordie Sabbagh and funded by the Canada Council for the Arts. The film traces Bîstyek’s journey from Syria to Canada and follows his life and artistic practice as he navigates identity, displacement, memory, and belonging through art.