Faiza Butt announced as the next artist for DRAW!
Published September 5, 2025
British-Pakistani artist Faiza Butt has been announced as the September featured artist for DRAW!, a nation-wide drawing project presented by Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture and inspired and supported by Bradford-born artist David Hockney.
In conjunction with The Big Draw Festival 2025, a month-long global celebration of drawing, the theme ‘Drawn Together’ champions that creativity can unite people across generations, borders, and backgrounds.
Titled Memento Mori after a European artistic tradition that contemplates human mortality, Faiza Butt’s drawing employs a traditional par-dokht pointillist technique from South Asian miniature painting to depict two figures surrounded by everyday objects such as trainers, flip flops, bananas, cupcakes, and paint tubes. Participants of DRAW! are encouraged to explore the theme ‘Drawn Together’ creatively, whether through group drawing sessions or collaborative drawings, or to illustrate aspects of their own personal stories to share with others.
DRAW! invites people from across the UK to take part by creating and sharing a drawing inspired by a particular theme set by a different artist each month. It aims to encourage people of all ages to pick up a pencil, pen or iPad and reflect on our everyday lives through drawing.
The public can share their drawings inspired by the theme of ‘Drawn Together’ by uploading them to bradford2025.co.uk/mydrawing or share them through social media with the hashtag #bradford2025 or by tagging @bradford_2025. A selection of drawings will be displayed on the Bradford 2025 website each month.
This September, Bradford 2025 is working with The Big Draw and the National Trust to launch The Big Draw Festival 2025 at East Riddlesden Hall in Keighley, Bradford District on Sunday 14 September. Marking a month-long celebration of drawing, creativity, and community, the historic grounds of East Riddlesden Hall will be transformed into a creative hub full of free drop-in activities for families and people of all ages.
Bradford 2025 is running drawing workshops for adults and children throughout the year, and involved in the project will be local, national and international artists, graphic designers, illustrators, animators, cartoonists – with a new theme and drawing revealed each month. Previous artists have included: David Hockney, Adébayo Bolaji, Jason Wilsher-Mills, Rose Blake, Dame Zandra Rhodes, Harry Hill, Morag Myerscough, and Kate Jackson.
Faiza Butt is a visual artist born in Lahore, Pakistan in 1973. She studied at the National College of Arts in Lahore, where she was awarded the Berger Gold Medal. She moved to the UK to complete an MFA (Distinction) in Painting at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London, where she also obtained a teaching certificate from the Institute of Education. Butt is best known for her elaborate drawings which tackle the intersection between contemporary culture and history, drawing inspiration from the Islamic tradition. Her work is recognised internationally and can be found in the collections of major public and private institutions, including the British Museum, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, and the Burger Collection.