Ali Kazim

‎ ‎

Untitled (‘Ruins’ Series), 2024

Untitled (‘Ruins’ Series) is an ongoing series of paintings inspired by long walks around unexcavated archeological sites in and around Lahore. Collecting broken pieces of ceramics materials (shards) found on the ground, he reconstituted these fragments into sculptures seemingly excavated from long-buried cities. These sherds hint at the ancient craftsmanship that was the material foundation of the ancient Harappa and Mohenjo Daro, some of the earliest Bronze Age civilizations to inhabit the Indus Valley millennia ago. 

Further documenting these found objects, Kazim meticulously reproduces each of them in Siyan Qalam, a form of Persian miniature painting, thereby connecting two crafts of clay and ink from different timelines. The artist creates a fictive landscape strewn with these real archeological pieces, evoking a collective portraiture of populations that once resided in the region, who made use of the natural resources of the environment. Their heritage spawned a succession of different civilizations. These civilizations come and go, while the landscape remains.

Ali Kazim (b. 1979) lives and works in Lahore, Pakistan, and graduated from the National College of Arts in Lahore and his MFA at the Slade School of Fine Art in London. Drawing from the art and history of South Asia, including its ceramics and miniature paintings traditions, Kazim creates layered, textured watercolor portraits and landscapes with forensic finesse. Kazim has exhibited in international institutions, including Queensland Art Gallery in Brisbane, Deichtorhallen in Hamburg, Art Sonje Center in Seoul, The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology in Oxford, Lahore Biennale, Karachi Biennale, Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, and Dhaka Art Summit. Kazim was the recipient of the Art House Residency in Wakefield, UK, and the Land Securities Studio Award in London, UK, and his works are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the British Museum, among others.