Sheherezade Alam

Selection of Untitled pieces, n.d.

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.  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 that she 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.”