Born and raised in the Libyan capital Tripoli, Najla Shawkat Fitouri studied Fine Arts at the University of Tripoli.
As a painter, she takes inspiration from her father, who has always encouraged her to pursue her love for art. The themes and subjects of her artworks range from mysticism and spiritual longing to the expression of female identity by portraying Libyan women in their traditional dresses and jewellery.

Najla Fitouri sees painting as a means of resilience in the face of the precarious state of her home country, which a favoured subject of hers. Indeed, she loves contrasting the blues of the Mediterranean Sea to the reds, symbols of the 2011 revolution and of its impact on the present Libyan culture. In this way, Najla Fitouri aims at honouring and perpetuating Libyan traditions and promoting art as instrumental in facing the political unrest in Libya. Indeed, in some of her paintings, the Libyan towns of Tripoli and Benghazi are portrayed as women striking.

Far from representing Libyan exile and emigration, Najla Shawkat’s works aim at celebrating joy and optimism and Libyan spiritual heritage, which she compares to her own internal journey, i.e. the search for freedom against modern consumerist society.

In order to improve her painting techniques and to better appreciate the concept of spirituality, Najla Shawkat Fitouri recently went to China, visited universities and academies and met artists and art teachers. She fights for more cultural freedom as she claims that after the revolution more importance needs to be given to artists and to their possibility of engaging with the world. But the culture currently imposed is limited, and the lack of local exhibitions and opportunities prevent artists from flourishing.