Hello,
I’m Mostafa.
An artist and writer.
Drawn to ordinary moments,
and everything they hold.
A little about me
There is a story
in everything.
I return to memory in my painting and writing: the places we carry, the people we remember, and what it means to belong.
More of my story
Friendship & the book
Craig Foster
Proposed testimonial for Craig Foster’s review
“A home is more than a place to live. It is safety, belonging and the freedom to imagine a future. Through the eyes of a boy, Mostafa asks us to meet the lives behind the headlines with empathy, curiosity and the dignity every person deserves.”Craig Foster AM
Former Socceroos captain & human rights advocate
Draft wording, not a published quotation or extract from the foreword.
My story
A life in
many colours.
Artist. Writer.
Always becoming.
Art began as a way
to say what words
could not.
I’m Mostafa Faraji (also spelled Mustafa Faraji), an Iranian Kurdish oil painter and writer. I left Iran at fifteen and arrived in Australia in 2013. Painting became a way to express what words could not — and to connect with others.
Read my full story
Mostafa Faraji is an Iranian Kurdish artist and writer whose work draws on displacement, landscape and the search for belonging. He left his home in Iran at fifteen and arrived in Australia in 2013. During detention on Christmas Island, he taught himself to draw, finding a way to express the separation and uncertainty he was living through.
As he built a life in Tasmania, painting became a means of connection while he was still learning English. Access to colour opened a new possibility for expressing hope. His first painting, Snowy Mountain, was inspired by snow on Mount Wellington — a landscape that also connected his new surroundings with the mountains of his homeland.
Working principally in oils, Mostafa has also explored climate change and Tasmania’s vulnerability to fire. Through workshops, public art projects and exhibitions, he has shared his belief in art as a way to communicate feeling and connect with others.
His paintings have appeared in Southerly’s online companion to Writing Through Fences. In 2022, he was selected for the Fresh Ink National Mentoring Program. Writing grew from a desire to share his life and the people he encountered during his refugee journey.
In 2018, a Tasmanian Asylum Seeker Scholarship enabled him to begin nursing studies at the University of Tasmania, reflecting his wish to contribute to his community. His upcoming book, A Home for a Boy, carries that storytelling into a new form, with a foreword by Craig Foster.
Get in touch
Let’s start
a conversation.
A painting, the book, a collaboration — or simply hello. I’d love to hear from you.
farajimostafa60@gmail.com