# Bîstyek

Bîstyek is a Kurdish-Syrian Canadian multidisciplinary visual artist based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. His practice spans painting, sculpture, installation, murals, and public art.

His work explores Kurdish identity and cultural representation, displacement, migration, memory, belonging, childhood, conflict, survival, and the experience of rebuilding a sense of home.

Born in Aleppo, Syria in 1996 to a Kurdish family originally from Afrîn, Bîstyek later resettled in Canada and developed his artistic practice in Winnipeg.

## Artistic Practice

Bîstyek works across painting, sculpture, installation, and public art. He is known for large-scale figurative works using acrylic, spray paint, expressive colour, symbolic imagery, and personal and cultural narratives.

His work draws from Kurdish culture, family history, childhood memories, migration, displacement, and lived experience.

## Selected Exhibitions

- Forbidden Colours — Winnipeg Art Gallery–Qaumajuq, Winnipeg, 2025–2026
- Inside Out — Katie + Gunner Gallery, Winnipeg, 2024
- This Is How I Do It — Toronto, 2022
- Fuck War — Winnipeg, 2022
- Inside Pain — Toronto, 2021
- Bîstyek — Winnipeg, 2020

## Public Art

Bîstyek has created large-scale murals, installations, and public artworks in Winnipeg.

Selected projects include:

- Dance Your Way — five-storey mural at Welcome Place, Winnipeg, 2025
- Central Park Street Banners — Winnipeg Arts Council × West End BIZ, 2024
- Lights on the Exchange — Exchange District, Winnipeg, 2024
- Fort Gibraltar Trail Pavement Mural — The Forks, Winnipeg, 2021
- Refugees — 58 Albert Street, Winnipeg, 2021

## Documentary

When I Go Outside is a documentary directed by Geordie Sabbagh and funded by the Canada Council for the Arts. The film follows Bîstyek's journey from Syria to Canada and his artistic practice exploring identity, displacement, memory, and belonging.

## Selected Recognition and Press

Bîstyek's work has been featured by the Winnipeg Free Press, Toronto Star, CBC, Galleries West, The Uniter, BlogTO, Al-Tiba9, and Winnipeg Art Gallery–Qaumajuq.

He was nominated for the RBC Rising Artist Award in 2026.

## Important Pages

- Website: https://bistyek.ca
- About and CV: https://bistyek.ca/about
- Forbidden Colours: https://www.wag.ca/exhibitions/bistyek/
- Inside Out: https://katieandgunner.com/inside-out-by-bistyek-exhibit-page/
- This Is How I Do It: https://bistyek.ca/this-is-how-i-do-it
- Fuck War: https://bistyek.ca/fuckwar
- Inside Pain: https://bistyek.ca/inside-pain
- Dance Your Way: https://bistyek.ca/dance-your-way