Statement by Shahzia Sikander on participating in the Lahore Literary Festival 2014

I am proud and elated to be part of the Lahore Literary Festival this year. I was born and raised in Lahore and as a Pakistani National it has been my deep desire to exhibit my work in my country. Lahore Literary festival is the first platform in Pakistan that has invited me to engage and speak in a formal capacity and for which I am deeply appreciative and humbled.

I am reminded of the time when in 1987 as a young person looking outward to the world I was lucky enough to have ventured into the Arts. National College of Arts was my beacon, nurturing curiosity and intellectual debate and a commitment to the creative process. I was lucky enough to have support from teachers and family who saw in me my potential and encouraged me to take risk and develop my facility to think and imagine the impossible. It was within that environment that I chose to engage with miniature painting especially at a time when it was not popular. What others saw an as enslavement to craft and technique, I saw as a path to opening a discussion.

In 1991 my thesis that I put forth on miniature painting was incredibly well received in the press and art circles of Pakistan and for which I received the Shakir Ali and Haji Sharif awards. As Quddus Mirza wrote in 2004 in Pakistan’s Encore: The News on Sunday, Sikander’s work “proved a breakthrough not only for the painter’s individual practice, but carved a new way for generations of miniature artists to experiment in multiple directions.”

That moment is my life was incredibly powerful as it was support coming from Pakistan and it validated and strengthened my identity as a young artist. I felt empowered and it was precisely that inspiration that I held onto which allowed me to continue taking risks at all stages of my evolvement. I am also proud to say that as an artist I continue to grow and engage with various communities around the world, participating and helping find meaning and drive cultural change.

Pakistan is ripe with creative production, and the festival celebrates this cultural capital. It brings increased visibility in the South Asian context, serving as an important platform for cross-cultural and interdisciplinary exchange. By bringing together participants from all over the larger region the LLF has served to dismantle many of the nationalistic divides that characterize the region. Developing new collaborative outlets within Pakistan that fosters a dialogue across generational divides is essential, as much as for young artists and intellectuals as for the older and more experienced members of our society. It is also necessary to continue to question and dismantle the economic stratification, both globally and locally.

As the world we live in changes more rapidly it is even more urgent to think outside of the box and respond creatively to complex realities. Fostering support for the liberal arts, critical thinking, ethical values and inter-disciplinary learning is an essential aspect of countering the un- predictabilities of the world. Creativity is genius and the more we support the great creative capital of our great nation the better we will be to participate and address the challenges of the future.