Sheherezade Alam

Selection of Untitled pieces, n.d.

Sheherezade Alam

Selection of Untitled pieces.

Lent by Dr. Furqaan Ahmed from the Furqaan Ahmed Collection

One of Pakistan’s earliest and most distinguished ceramic artists, Alam brought the world to Lahore through her exploration of different traditions of working with clay from across different parts of Asia and Europe.  Among them was the deep history of the Indus Valley itself: Alam traced her own practice to Muhammad Nawaz, the kumhar master potter of Harappan lineage whom she met in 2006 and learned from, and who became her Ustaad. But Alam also understood her practice in cosmic terms.  As she recounted, “My whole body moves when I’m passing a pot. The clay in my body, in my being, responds to the clay outside.” She envisioned her practice as more than art; it offered a sort of communion:  “It is the earth which speaks to us and explains everything to us, and it is through this process that I have learnt everything in life.”

Sheherezade Alam (1948-2022) was born in Lahore, and studied at Kinnaird College before graduating from the National College of Arts, Lahore (1972) and the West Surrey College of Art and Design while on a British Council scholarship (1983-84).  In 1977, she set up Studio 90 as the first woman potter in Pakistan, and had a one-person exhibition at the Arts Council the following year.  From 1987-1989, she was in residence at Yale.  In 2013, she was in residence at the Pottery Workshop in Jingdezhen.  In 2010, she established Jahan-e Jahan Ara, as a center to teach the value of traditional art to children.  In 2015, as founder and member of the Inheriting Harappa project, she co-organized the landmark Rediscovering Harappa: Through the Five Elements at the Lahore Museum.

شہرزادے عالم

بلا عنوان فن پاروں کا انتخاب

ڈاکٹر فرقان احمد سے مستعار, فرقان احمد کلیکشن

 انہوں نے مٹی کے شہ کار تراشنے کا فن اپنے استاد محمد نواز سے سیکھا تھا۔ شہرزادے عالم کے لئے مٹی سے کام کرنا ایک روحانی حیثیت اور اہمیت رکھتا تھا۔ ایسا اس لئے کہ مٹی کے ساتھ کام کرنا ان کو یاد دلاتا تھا کہ انسان خود بھی مٹی کا بنا ہے۔ یہی مٹی کا تعلق ان کے فن پاروں کو خاص بناتا ہے۔

پاکستان کے انتہائی ممتاز سرامک فنکاروں میں شمار ہونے والی شہرزادے عالم نے مٹی کے فن پاروں سے جڑی  مختلف تخلیقی روایتوں  کا کھوج لگا کر  لاہور کو ایک جہان سے متعارف کروایا ہے۔

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