Bastakia Studios · Creative Publishing · Est. 2025
We are a New York–based creative studio developing narrative works that emerge from the margins — stories told with honesty, craft, and the courage they deserve.
Who We Are
Bastakia Studios takes its name from Al Bastakiya — the historic wind-tower quarter of old Dubai, a neighborhood that endured, adapted, and survived while the world around it transformed beyond recognition. We chose the name deliberately.
We exist to develop and publish narrative works — graphic novels, illustrated memoirs, and visual storytelling — that center voices and experiences that have not yet found their proper medium. We work closely with our subjects, treating every project as a true collaboration between storyteller and artist.
Our team brings backgrounds in publishing, editorial, and content strategy. We are based in New York City and work with artists and collaborators globally.
Current Project
Our debut project is a graphic novel memoir based on the true story of a woman who grew up transgender in Dubai — navigating identity, family, faith, and survival in one of the world's most layered and contradictory cities.
"It is a story about the distance between who you are and where you are — and the extraordinary lengths a person will go to close that gap."
Drawing inspiration from the visual intimacy of Persepolis and the confessional honesty of Fun Home, the work aims to be both a deeply personal account and a culturally significant document of a time, place, and experience rarely given its full complexity in Western storytelling.
The subject is a collaborator and co-author. She is based in New York City and is actively involved in every stage of development — from narrative structure to the selection of our visual collaborator.
We are currently in pre-production, seeking an artist to partner with us on bringing this story to the page.
Open Call
We are seeking a NYC-based illustrator or comic artist — students and recent graduates are warmly encouraged — to serve as the visual author of this project. This is a paid engagement, structured as a flat-fee sample chapter to begin, with a full project agreement to follow.
01
Strong instincts for paneling, pacing, and visual narrative. We value expressive flow over technical polish.
02
A portfolio that demonstrates character expression — joy, grief, fear, wit. This story lives in faces and bodies.
03
This story deserves a collaborator, not just a contractor. We want someone who cares about what it says.
04
Preferred, but not absolute. The subject is in New York and values occasional in-person collaboration.
Send us a brief note about why this project speaks to you, a link to your portfolio, and any relevant sequential or memoir work. We read every submission and respond to all serious inquiries.
info@bastakiastudios.online