Houda Bakkali
Since 2008, Houda Bakkali has pioneered projects at the intersection of art, technology, and communication, delivering open-access digital art experiences for large audiences in public spaces and educational institutions. She is the first artist to stage solo exhibitions in international airports in Spain that combine physical artwork, augmented reality, and immersive formats, with women’s empowerment as the conceptual core, at Madrid Airport and Málaga–Costa del Sol Airport. She was selected by the legendary American magazine TIME for the outlet’s first Web3 art project. She has also presented her artistic work and creative vision at the Alliance Française, widely regarded as the world’s largest cultural institution, with over 140 years of history, on a major international programme spanning 36 cities and 22 countries. Additional milestones include a groundbreaking simultaneous exhibition across six civic centres of Barcelona City Council, the first ever XR project tribute to Don Quixote, and XR multimedia cultural-heritage initiatives developed with public and private institutions across multiple territories.
Since 2009, her practice has further connected health, creativity, technology, and communication through public outreach in immersive and AR formats, including over 100 interviews with leading figures in medicine and internationally recognised scientific and educational projects. Through simultaneous exhibitions and educational content, she builds partnerships between cultural institutions and learning communities to democratise access to digital culture. Her work has been presented in more than 30 countries.
Her work generates measurable cultural and educational impact by translating digital culture into accessible public experiences at a global scale. Through open-access artistic projects, she builds digital literacy and hands-on engagement with emerging technologies among diverse international audiences, demonstrating the practical value of creativity combined with technology across sectors including health and medicine, education, communication and marketing, tourism, and scientific dissemination. This impact is extended through structured masterclasses and educational programmes delivered in collaboration with cultural and academic institutions worldwide, ensuring sustainable knowledge transfer beyond the exhibition context.
Selected recognitions: New Talent Award at the International Festival Artists of the World (Cannes); four-time recipient of the American Illustration Award (New York); winner at the International Motion Awards (New York); four-time Graphis Silver Award (New York) plus honourable mentions; selected in London International Creative, Paris Design Awards, and Creative Quarterly (New York); featured in 3×3 Magazine (New York); twice named a “Distinguished Artist” by ArtAscent (Canada) and recipient of the “Excellence Award” from Circle Foundations (France), among other accolades. In 2020, her series “Creativity against Covid-19” was prominently featured in the United Nations global #UNCOVID19BRIEF campaign and received an award at the International Motion Awards (New York).
PRESS
Highlighted Projects
Houda Bakkali’s career is marked by a series of achievements that have defined her role in contemporary digital art. Each of her projects has represented not only an artistic and technological breakthrough in her career but also an act of cultural outreach, bringing her work into diverse contexts from modern art salons to international airports, from European institutions to cultural spaces across the Arab world, Asia, and Latin America, New Zealand or Africa.
These milestones, the result of her educational and artistic commitment, highlight her ability to break stereotypes about digital art and to transcend the traditional barriers of art, positioning her work as a bridge between tradition and innovation.
Some of her most outstanding achievements reflect the evolution of a career that has successfully consolidated a unique and free style at the intersection of art and technology, signing original and innovative projects in different spaces and countries. READ MORE
France
In 2018, she was the only artist to present 100% digital work at the Contemporary Art Salon Artistes du Monde in Cannes with the figure of the Arab woman as the protagonist, an event sponsored by the Cannes City Council and Nice-Matin, where her groundbreaking proposal earned her the New Talent Award. Likewise, Houda Bakkali has been awarded with the Paris Design Awards.
She has exhibited on several occasions in Paris and Biarritz, including at the Carrousel du Louvre, the Casino of Biarritz, and the Palais des Congrès Bellevue, where she personally presented her digital works with augmented reality to the city’s Mayor. READ MORE
International Airports
Houda Bakkali became the first artist to exhibit in two international airports in Spain with large-format works featuring augmented reality. Her projects at Madrid-Barajas (2022) and Málaga-Costa del Sol (2023) set a precedent at the crossroads of digital art, public spaces, and the dissemination of digital culture with Arab women as protagonists. READ MORE
Alliance Française
Houda Bakkali has developed a very unique project with the legendary Alliance Française network, taking her works to more than 20 countries, including the Argentina, Bahrain, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, México, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, the United States, Venezuela, Zambia, etc.
This educational and artistic project combines the physical and the virtual, breaking spatial, generational, and cultural barriers through physical artworks, virtual creations, and didactic content.. A global-scale project.
Its originality lies in the fact that the exhibitions were developed simultaneously, with pieces in different formats, in different spaces, different sizes, for different audiences, from diverse countries, cultures, and ideologies. Art as a unifying link in an innovative and unique concept, in which Bakkali makes technology bring physical works to life simultaneously, merging and feeding into each other, proposing new visual languages through different fusions in the most diverse places on the planet. Through the Alliance Française, Houda Bakkali participated in the prestigious Al Riwaq Art Space in Bahrain during Novembre Digital, an event promoted by the Institut Français. She also shared her message of digital art and female empowerment with the Hayy Jameel residents in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. In addition, she has exhibited her work at Colegio Laico de Valdivia in Chile; Discovery School in Cuernavaca, Mexico; Terrapuerto in Trujillo, Perú; as well as at the University of Piura and the Universidad Privada Antenor Orrego (UPAO), Perú. READ MORE
Arab Woman
Houda Bakkali participated in the prestigious Al Riwaq Art Space in Bahrain during Novembre Digital, an event promoted by the Institut Français in Paris. She also carried her message of female empowerment to Hayy Jameel Residents in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) and to Abu Dhabi, reinforcing the vision of freedom and diversity that her work represents. A tribute to female power, to hope, and to the memory of the artist’s mother. A celebration of creativity that looks toward a colorful, hopeful, enthusiastic, and committed future. All three exhibitions were hosted and organized by iconic Alliance Française. READ MORE
Barcelona
Barcelona Civic Centers of City Council
For three months, she showcased a pioneering project across six civic centers of the City Council, combining canvases, audiovisual pieces, immersive experiences, and digital art workshops. She was the first artist to create this cultural intersection in these Barcelona’s community spaces, offering training, exploring technologies such as augmented reality and the metaverse, and exhibiting works that intertwined the physical and the virtual with the figure of Arab woman as the protagonist.. READ MORE
Reial Cercle Artístic of Barcelona
In this historic space with more than 140 years of artistic legacy, Bakkali presented the first exhibition combining mixed-media canvases with augmented reality, placing women as the absolute protagonists. READ MORE
Don Quixote | Extended Reality
Bakkali signed the first global extended reality project based on the most universal literary work, Don Quixote de la Mancha. This pioneering initiative combined immersive art, Web3, audiovisual and multimedia content, as well as masterclasses on art and technology. This project was presented on World Book Day. READ MORE
Featured Exhibitions
Since 2008, from Cannes to New York, Houda Bakkali has been part of the evolution of digital art. in some emblematic public spaces and private events around the world.
In 2018, she was the only artist to present 100% digital work at the Contemporary Art Salon Artistes du Monde in Cannes with the figure of the Arab woman as the protagonist, an event sponsored by the Cannes City Council and Nice-Matin, where her groundbreaking proposal earned her the New Talent Award. Between 2018 and 2023, her project Women and Digital Art was exhibited at the Spanish Paradores of Lorca and Córdoba. Likewise, she also lectured on digital art at the Paradores of Soria and Cangas de Onís in collaboration with the University of Oviedo. She also exhibited with great success her fusion of augmented reality and physical art at the Colegio de Médicos de Málaga. She signed Soria Through Digital Art, a project promoted by the Soria Provincial Council, which brought digital art to rural Spain through workshops, physical and immersive exhibitions, and educational activities exploring artificial intelligence, the metaverse, and augmented reality. She also successfully showcased her fusion of augmented reality and physical art at the Málaga College of Physicians and Casa de Castilla-La Mancha en Madrid.
In 2020, at the first Contemporary Art Salon in Monaco after the pandemic, she unveiled the event’s first painting with augmented reality, attracting extensive coverage from the Riviera press. That same year, she made her debut in Sanremo, Italy, presenting I fiori della felicità at the City Hall to the Mayor and the President of the Municipality of Sanremo, as well as at the Museum of the Flower. In 2021, she presented her work Divertimento at the iconic Casino of Sanremo.
She has exhibited on several occasions in Paris and Biarritz, including at the Carrousel du Louvre, the Casino of Biarritz, and the Palais des Congrès Bellevue, where she personally presented her digital works with augmented reality to the city’s Mayor. She also frequently gives presentations and participates in private events in different countries.
Houda Bakkali presented her work in tribute to female empowerment at the Can Travi Civic Center in Barcelona as part of the Empoderat Festival, an event sponsored by the Barcelona City Council. The exhibition was distinguished by two pieces that seamlessly integrated artistic creativity with new technologies as a medium for conveying medical and scientific content.
Her art has also been showcased several occasions in The Party, the emblematic celebration of American Illustration in New York. Likewise, Bakkali was selected for the first inaugural artistic Web3 project by TIME magazine, participating with this iconic publication at Dreamverse in New York, considered the world’s first major digital art show. READ MORE
Art and Health
Since 2009, Houda Bakkali has developed medical communication projects, conducting over 100 interviews with specialists and creating multimedia and interactive content. Her work received the WIS (Web of Health Interest) certification. Her outreach initiative continues today with the collaboration of some of the most important voices in the field of medicine.
Her project Art for Health was awarded the American Illustration Award (New York, 2024), consolidating the fusion between art and health that she represents in some of her works. Likewise, her series Creativity against Covid-19 was part of the United Nations’ global campaign #UNCOVID19BRIEF (2020) and received the International Motion Awards in New York. READ MORE
Educational, Cultural & Communicational Impact
Houda Bakkali plays an active role in digital culture. Her work materializes through the creation of artistic and educational spaces for diverse audiences, as well as through collaborations with media outlets, workshops, and educational initiatives.
Masterclasses and workshops: She organizes both in-person and virtual workshops, where she shares her creative process, the integration of technologies such as augmented reality into traditional practices, as well as the development of audiovisual, virtual, and e-learning projects. She has delivered masterclasses at cultural institutions and public and private centers in different countries. READ MORE
Outreach: Through the global network of the Alliances Françaises, as well as civic centers and public institutions, Houda Bakkali has transformed exhibitions into didactic experiences, combining physical art, augmented reality, workshops, and educational talks. This approach turns digital art into a tool that bridges cultures and generations, free of spatial and temporal boundaries.
Radio collaborations: Houda Bakkali has participated in outreach programs on digital culture and new technologies on Onda Cero Radio and Radio Marca (Spain). READ MORE
Artistic Concept
Houda Bakkali conceives art as a tool for empowerment, inclusion, capacity-building, and social transformation. Her work is a tribute to female strength and to the Arab woman, inspired by her own mother. Through technological innovation –augmented reality, immersive, audiovisual, interactive projects, and digital communication-, she promotes the democratization of art, bringing it into public spaces, cultural institutions, and communities worldwide with a festive, colorful, hopeful, and playful perspective.
With a clear educational background, Houda Bakkali’s works come to life not only to entertain but also to share messages about the potential of digital art and new technologies as informative, educational, and marketing tools. They provide a powerful complement to enhance the work of artists, opening new opportunities beyond the art world, while also serving as a valuable ally for institutions and spaces that host them.
Her work is an example of how technology can be used to foster cultural transformation. The canvas comes alive and becomes useful. It expands beyond its own limits, beyond traditional spaces, and aspires to reach diverse audiences in order to be both recognized and recognizable by all.
International awards and distinctions
Houda Bakkali’s work has received numerous international awards, among which the following stand out:
New Talent Award at the Festival International des Artistes du Monde, Cannes.
4 with the American Illustration Award (New York).
4 Graphis Silver Awards (New York), in addition to 6 Honorable Mentions.
International Motion Awards (New York).
Honored at the London International Creative.
Recognized with the Paris Design Awards.
Honored at the Creative Quarterly (New York).
Honored twice as a ‘Distinguished Artist’ by the Canadian magazine ArtAscent.
Recipient with the Excellence Award from Circle Foundation (France).
Her work paying tribute to Don Quixote was featured by 3×3 Magazine (New York).
Her illustration series Creativity against Covid-19 was part of the United Nations global campaign #UNCOVID19BRIEF and was awarded by the International Motion Awards in New York. READ MORE
Creative Process
Houda Bakkali’s creative process is multidisciplinary, integrating digital illustration, photography, acrylic painting, collage, animation, and interactivity. Her works are enriched by immersive environments. Through augmented reality, she transforms each unique piece into a living experience where the audience becomes the protagonist, able to interact with and enjoy Bakkali’s artistic concept in multiple versions.
Her art is evolutionary: each project adapts and grows through different messages, in different contexts, and for different audiences. The works interweave and feedback into one another over time.
Likewise, each of Bakkali’s artistic proposals has a clear didactic vocation and a commitment to global accessibility, positioning digital art as a comprehensible and approachable channel for education and communication without spatial, temporal, or generational limits. READ MORE
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Press and Media Coverage
JAMES MAGAZINE | ITALIA
Houda Bakkali, beyond digital art
EL NUEVO HERALD | MIAMI
Houda Bakkali presenta la obra “Arte por la salud” en Barcelona con motivo del Octubre Rosa
EL NUEVO HERALD | MIAMI
Houda Bakkali: “El arte es libre, es ilimitado y es imprevisible”
EL NUEVO HERALD | MIAMI
La realidad aumentada de Bakkali, una lección de arte digital
EL NUEVO HERALD | MIAMI
Houda Bakkali presenta “Arte por la Salud” en Barcelona
COUCOU LOLA | MÉXICO
ARTE DIGITAL, CULTURA DIGITAL: HOUDA BAKKALI EN LA ALIANZA FRANCESA CDMX
GUATEMALA.COM
“ARTE DIGITAL, CULTURA DIGITAL” EN GUATEMALA
LOCAL BAHRAIN
«Digital Art, Digital Culture» by Houda Bakkali
LOCAL BAHRAIN
Meet Houda Bakkali! A Talented Digital Artist Who Brought Her Vision to Bahrain
BAHRAIN THIS MONTH
«Digital Art, Digital Culture» by Houda Bakkali
MAGPIE | EMIRATES
«Digital Art, Digital Culture» by Houda Bakkali
ARTE & LUSSO | EMIRATES
Immersive Art Exhibition by Houda Bakkali at AF Abu Dhabi
FACT MAGAZINE | EMIRATES
Immersive yourself in digital Art
NEWS OF BAHRAIN | BAHRAIN
Digital November, Alliance Française is celebrating innovation, art and culture
HAYY JAMEEL | SAUDI ARABIA
Ecuavisa TV | Ecuador
Exposición de Arte Digital en Guayaquil
SAN REMO NEWS | ITALIA
“Divertimento”, L’opera dedicata al Casinó di Sanremo di Houda Bakkali
MONTECARLO NEWS | MONACO
Da Monaco all’Italia, l’universalità dell’artista Houda Bakkali è senza limiti
MONACO LIFE | MONACO
Houda Bakkali: «Digital art is not a trend is the future»
RADIO MUNICIPAL DE LOJA | ECUADOR
Arte Digital, Cultura Digital de Houda Bakkali en Loja, Ecuador
RADIO MUNICIPAL DE LOJA | ECUADOR
Taller de Arte Digital en la red de Alianzas Francesas de Ecuador
Universidad de Piura
Houda Bakkali expone arte con realidad aumentada en la UDEP
Universidad UPAO Piura
Arte Digital, Cultura Digital en la UPAO
Piura News
CULTURA VIVA | COLOMBIA
REVISTA SEMANA | COLOMBIA
BOGOTÁ PLAN | COLOMBIA
COOLTUR@ TOTAL | COLOMBIA
UNIVERSIDAD DEL ROSARIO | COLOMBIA
Arte digital en la AF de Bogotá
REVISTA IMPACTA | COLOMBIA
LA BATUTA | COLOMBIA
La Alianza Francesa de Bogotá celebra el Noviembre Digital
UN MINUTO RADIO | COLOMBIA
Bogotá vive el Noviembre Digital
Canal BoxMOV | COLOMBIA
TECHNOCIO | COLOMBIA
¿QUÉ MÁS? | COLOMBIA
Arte sin límites: Houda Bakkali en Bogotá
JULIET ART MAGAZINE | ITALIA
Houda Bakkali, breaking stereotypes
DIARIO DE CENTRO AMÉRICA | GUATEMALA
Aprecie obras con realidad aumentada
GUATEMALA.COM | GUATEMALA
Experiencia inmersiva en la Alianza Francesa de Antigua
PLAZA DE ARMAS | QUERÉTARO, MX
Exposición Arte Digital, Cultura Digital
LUSAKA 365 | ZAMBIA
Digital Art, Digital Culture by Houda Bakkali
COLEGIO LAICO DE VALDIVIA | CHILE
Houda Bakkali inaugura su exposición en Valdivia
COLEGIO LAICO DE VALDIVIA | CHILE
Taller de realidad aumentada en Valdivia
TIME | UNITED STATES
AESTHETICA MAGAZINE | UK
Houda Bakkali, looking to the future
THE CITY JUNCTION | NEW DELHI
Augmented Reality Exhibition by Houda Bakkali
HINDUSTAN TIMES | INDIA
Augmented Reality Exhibition by Houda Bakkali
KWICK POST | INDIA
Augmented Reality Exhibition by Houda Bakkali
STIR MAGAZINE | INDIA
The bright hued pop art by Houda Bakkali is a way to lead peaceful protest
PENANG FREE SHEET | PENANG, MALAYSIA
Art exhibition by Houda Bakkali
YDJ | MALAYSIA
Houda Bakkali, the artist who captivates audiences in the digital space
CULTURA VIVA | CARTAGENA DE INDIAS, COLOMBIA
Sobre arte digital más allá del lienzo
ASOMARTE | QUERÉTARO, MÉXICO
Exposición Arte Digital, Cultura Digital de Houda Bakkali
DIARIO DE MORELOS | CUERNAVACA, MÉXICO
Agenda Cultural de la Alianza Francesa de Cuernavaca
LO DE HOY MORELOS | MÉXICO
Exposición en la Alianza Francesa de Cuernavaca
VISIT MÉRIDA | MÉXICO
Exposición «La Felicidad» de Houda Bakkali
VISIT MÉRIDA | MÉXICO
REVISTA Q | MÉXICO
Woman and digital art de Houda Bakkali
EL IMPARCIAL | MÉXICO
Combinar arte digital by arte tradicional lo democratiza
POLITICO | MÉXICO
Houda Bakkali, arte digital con mucha alma
EL NUEVO HERALD | MIAMI
Houda Bakkali: Woman and Digital Art
ART MIAMI MAGAZINE | MIAMI
Houda Bakkali, arte digital con mucha alma
15 MINUTOS | ORLANDO
Houda Bakkali: «Mi obra busca romper con los estereotipos sobre la mujer musulmana»
DIARIO DE CENTRO AMÉRICA | GUATEMALA
Mujeres y arte digital de Houda Bakkali
DIARIO DE CENTRO AMÉRICA | GUATEMALA
Bakkali entrega su creatividad digital
ARTASCENT | CANADA
Artist Interview: Houda Bakkali
ART REVEAL MAGAZINE | GERMANY
Featured artist: Houda Bakkali
ONDA CERO | SPAIN
RADIO MARCA| SPAIN
La IA llega a la radio deportiva
HOY POR HOY | CADENA SER | SPAIN
ABC | GRAFFICA | SPAIN
The winners of the best posters in the world of graphic design have been announced by Graphis.
BARNA DIARIO | SPAIN
Houda Bakkali: «El arte es libre, es ilimitado y es imprevisible»
Immersive art exhibition by Houda Bakkali | Barcelona City Council Civic Centres
Immersive art exhibition by Houda Bakkali | Málaga-Costa del Sol
EL MUNDO | RTVE | TELEMADRID | AENA | LA VIDA DE MADRID | MADRID PRESS | LA VIDA DE MADRID | SPAIN
Immersive art exhibition by Houda Bakkali | Madrid-Barajas
MÁLAGA HOY | LA OPINIÓN DE MÁLAGA | KALDO MAG | RTVE | CANAL SUR | 101 TV | SPAIN
Immersive Art Exhibition by Houda Bakkali| Malaga College of Physicians
IEMED | BARCELONA
ASSOCIATION OF ART CRITICS OF MADRID | SPAIN
Houda Bakkali, más allá del arte digital
Don Quixote in Digital Age by Houda Bakkali
CITY COUNCIL OF ALCÁZAR DE SAN JUAN
The mayor welcomes graphic artist Houda Bakkali, winner of the New Talent Award at Cannes.
ANTONIO LÓPEZ ART AND DESIGN COLLEGE | SPAIN




















