ARTBASH

Bashir Bashir

Filmmaker · Author · Artist

Storyteller with an eclectic craft.

Scroll ↓

The Art
Triangle

ART the piece BASH the artist .CO the audience

The Design Thinking

ARTBash is derived from kitbashing: building something new from parts that were never meant to meet. I bash together everything I have learned and see what only that collision can make.

  • ART The piece. The medium is irrelevant; art can be found in every aspect of life.
  • BASH Both the artist and the method.
  • .CO The community, the collective, the co-experience… you.

Index of Curiosities

Films

Experiences painted in time and space.

{{ count }} films

Sometimes I'll be charged with ideas and creativity with nowhere to put them, so I challenge myself to create something in a weekend. Here are some of those self-imposed challenges.

{{ f.poster }}
▶ Watch the film {{ f.year }}
film still — 16:9 ▶ {{ f.year }}
{{ f.year }} · {{ f.country }}

{{ f.title }}

{{ f.logline }}

{{ f.role }}
{{ f.poster }}
▶ Watch the film {{ f.year }}
film still — 16:9 ▶ {{ f.year }}
{{ f.year }} · {{ f.country }}

{{ f.title }}

{{ f.logline }}

{{ f.role }}
“The camera is just an excuse for curiosity.”

Photography

Faces, streets, liminal moments.

An archive of moments, strangers, and emotions suspended in light.

{{ photoMeta }}
{{ galleryGrid }}
{{ lbImg }} {{ lbCounter }}

Children's
Books

Award-winning, written & illustrated.

Books that take your inner child seriously.

The Shelf

Two standing titles
{{ b.coverNode }} {{ b.honour }}

{{ b.title }}

{{ b.year }}

Writings

Emotions expressed through ink and quill.

Poems, prose, and stories.

{{ p.title }}

{{ p.hint }}

{{ p.previewBody }}

About

Portrait of Bashir
Portrait — Bashir

As I sat entranced by the cello notes dancing to the choreography of the conductor's baton, the vibrant set came alive with the emotion of the performers. It awakened a passion within me, something I had misplaced in the cumulative pile that had become my life. Illuminated by a spark of realization, it was then that my calling in life became clear; bringing stories to life through powerful, emotive, and impactful experiences.

A week later, I left my engineering career behind and embarked on a journey of curiosity, creativity, and storytelling.

That was 2008.

Since then I have studied, experimented and explored many different disciplines, enriching my toolbelt with more ways to craft stories. With work spanning over 30 countries, I am continuously compelled by the opportunities to tell the next story.

Over the course of my two decades in the creative industry, I have

  • Spent time in the trenches as a war journalist during the Arab Spring in 2011 telling the stories of humanity.
  • Freelanced as a DOP for 8 years with films screened, nominated and won at Cannes Film Festival, The Academy Awards, New York Film Festival, and Dubai International Film Festival, to name a few.
  • Was a producer, writer, and director at Image Nation Abu Dhabi.
  • Served as the Creative Director at the Prime Minister's Office in Dubai creating experiences for the Mohamed Bin Rashid Global Initiatives.
  • Served as Creative Consultant at the UAE Presidential Court on national impact projects.
  • Created, directed, and EP'd a full revamped grid of shows for Abu Dhabi Media Network as part of their 2023 rebranding.
  • And was Managing and Creative Director at two boutique agencies specializing in culture, heritage, and national campaign projects.
Say hello

Hello
There

Films, narrative consultation, creative direction, workshops, talks, or just a good idea, let's have a chat.

✓

Message sent

Thank you — your message is on its way. I read everything that lands in my inbox.

{{ formError }}

Art
Therapy

The same process that moves an audience can move a person.

What is Art Therapy?

Art is a common language between us and our subconscious. When trained in what to listen for, an Art Therapist can help translate the motives, behaviors, and desired outcomes that may be eluding you.

What does a session look like?

A session is a quiet room, myriad materials, and no expectations. You do not need to know how to make art. We make something, and the making does the talking. What the hands choose often says what words cannot.

What Art Therapy is not

Art Therapy is not a medical treatment and I make no clinical recommendations. What I offer is a practiced room and a method that helps people understand themselves better. For cases that require deeper clinical attention, I refer them to trained psychiatrists that I have partnered with.

Who can this be for?

For anyone carrying something heavy or unnamed, adults and children alike, we can explore them together at your own pace.

Sessions are one on one, in person, in Abu Dhabi.

An art therapy session at the table: drawing together
The session table · the drawing does the talking

Training & certification

  • Certified Art Therapy practitioner
  • 60-hour Art Therapy training, KHDA-attested · Tamken Training Center, Dubai · 2026
  • Postgraduate Research Diploma in Art Therapy · Cambridge College of International Studies · grade Excellent · 2026
Training certificate · Art Therapy, Tamken Training Center, KHDA attested
Postgraduate Research Diploma in Art Therapy · Cambridge College of International Studies

The Kenya work

In partnership with Nisria

At Nisria, a child rescue home in Kenya, I used this method with runaway and homeless children.

Children the street had taught to say nothing.

We drew, we talked, we played. And through that process we slowly uncovered the root of how and why they ended up where no child should be.

Through the sessions, old unhelpful behaviors were eroded away giving way to newer healthier ones to blossom.

Several of those children are back home with their families today.

Children drawing and painting outdoors in Kenya, faces blurred for privacy
Children playing a board game beside art materials, faces blurred for privacy
An outdoor art session in Kenya being filmed, children working with books and drawings, faces blurred for privacy
A child coloring in a workbook during an outdoor session, seen from behind
A child's drawing titled your safest place: home at Nisiria, school, and a future as a doctor

Published with consent · fully anonymized · faces blurred to protect the children's dignity

Inquire about a
free intro session

✓

Received

Thank you for trusting me with this. I read and reply to every inquiry personally.

{{ tError }}

In person · Abu Dhabi · I reply personally

· A read-aloud, draw-along workshop ·

The Dreams
Factory Workshop

One book, ninety minutes of dreaming out loud.

The Dreams Factory — book cover illustration
Date
Saturday, September 5 · 11 AM
Length
90 minutes, arrival to keepsakes
Where
Etihad Modern Art Gallery, Abu Dhabi
View on map ↗
Price
AED 355, all inclusive · hardcover book, materials, keepsakes
Who
Ages 7 to 10 · seven seats maximum
01

The idea

The Dreams Factory teaches that dreams are not only things that happen to you: they are adventures you can craft. This workshop follows that thread off the page and into the hands of the children.

Children don't just listen to a story about dreaming. They write, they draw, they read aloud, and they leave as the authors of their own dreams, with the tools to keep going tonight.

Remember your dreams, be your own dream queen or king. Let them thrive and inspire you, who knows what they can bring.
02

The book

A young boy named Jicho realises that he can control his dreams. His excitement spills into his waking life as he passes his days mostly preparing for the wild adventures he can conjure up. He learns that to help bring balance to a realm overrun by nightmares, he must face his own dark memories.

An interactive book with sections that guide the reader using prompts to record and visualise their own dreams.

Awards
Children's Book International · Winner
Readers' Choice Book Awards · Gold Winner
Literary Global Children's Book Awards · Winner
The BookFest · Award Winner
Hawthorne Prize 2026 · Short List
Credits
Written by Bashir Bashir · illustrated by Janine Alyssa
Format
Rhyming verse · four creative prompts · a dream journal included
03

How it works

01

Read

Full character voices to open. Each child takes a page aloud in rotation.

02

Pause

The book stops and asks its reader a question. The room goes quiet with possibility.

03

Create

Five minutes to answer in writing, in drawing, or both, in their favourite medium.

04

Share

We go around the table and look at what everyone made, together. Every answer counts.

By the final page, every child has answered the book four times, in their own hand.

04

The ninety minutes

8 minWelcome & introductions · names, favourite art medium, favourite colour11:00 AM
4 minEvery child receives their own copy of the book11:08 AM
8 minReading I · the dream of flying11:12 AM
8 minCreative stop 01 · write, draw, share11:20 AM
8 minReading II · into dreamland11:28 AM
7 minCreative stop 02 · write, draw, share11:36 AM
3 minWiggle break11:43 AM
9 minReading III · inside the Dreams Factory11:46 AM
7 minCreative stop 03 · write, draw, share11:55 AM
7 minReading IV · why are some dreams bad12:02 PM
6 minCreative stop 04 · write, draw, share12:09 PM
7 minReading V · the finale12:15 PM
8 minThe closing circle & keepsakes12:22 PM
Workshop ends · doors open for pickup12:30 PM
05

What your child takes home

  • Their own hardcover copy of The Dreams Factory
  • Every page they wrote and drew
  • The pencil and markers set they used
  • A dream journal, ready for tonight

To close, each child names their favourite thing another child made that day, and says why. Every child leaves having been seen, and having practised seeing others.

06

What children practise

01

Creative agency · dreams as something you make, not just something that happens to you

02

Reading aloud · one page at a time, in good company: confidence without pressure

03

Emotional literacy · the story meets fear and loss with kindness, and so do we

04

Giving appreciation · the closing circle: noticing and naming what others made well

05

A dream-journal habit · the book's back pages go home ready to fill

“Nightmares are scary, and it's fine to be scared, it means that you loved something, it means that you cared.”

· Jicho's mom
07

Your host

Bashir Bashir

Award-winning children's book author, filmmaker, artist, and certified art therapy practitioner. I make books that take your inner child seriously. The Dreams Factory is the first one I'm bringing off the page, into a room of its readers.

Postgraduate diploma in art therapyCambridge College of International Studies
Art therapy training, 60 hours, KHDA attestedTamken Training Center · Dubai
08

Register a seat

Checking availability…
Parent / guardian
The child
Emergency contact (if different from above)
A couple of things to confirm

Sold out

All seven seats for The Dreams Factory Workshop are taken. Want to know the moment the next one opens?

Questions? create@artbash.co · +971 50 162 2716
Bashir Bashir

Checking…

Give us a moment while we confirm your payment with Ziina.