Shah Abdullah Alamee graduated from the National College of Arts with a B.F.A (Bachelor of Fine Arts) in 2012. He was a recipient of the Haji Shareef Award, the college’s highest accolade of achievement in miniature painting. In 2018, he displayed his paintings at the Lahore Biennale as part of Maktab, a collaborative project between the Lahore Biennale Foundation (LBF) and the Aga Khan Museum, curated by Imran Qureshi. His calligraphy artwork was displayed at the third in 2017 and fifth Faiz Festival exhibition titled Aad Sach, Jugaad Sach in 2019. He has also painted for the new Islamabad International Airport under the curation of Noor Jahan Bilgrami and Nazish Ataullah. He was a fellow for the artist residency organized by QUAD gallery in Derby, UK. Shah Abdullah has been participating in several group exhibition inspired by the Neolithic and Chalcolithic Mehrgarh civilization (approx. 7000–2600 BCE) since 2018, and plans to probe it for future projects as well. The first in this series was Tanhāī (Solitude) in 2018, curated by Salima Hashmi , All That Remains in 2020 curated by Irfan Gull. Solo project If the Self Suffer Exile in 2020 (LUMS). Tapestry of fading gardens in 2020, (Dubai). Games for artist and non-artists (IMMA), Ireland and nomination for Jameel Prize (Victoria & Albert Museum), London. 2020. Zindah-dil-an-e-Lahore, Billboard Project by Lahore Biennale Foundation (LBF), 2020, and Existence and Nonexistence collaborative project (Koel gallery, Karachi), 2020, Script Project of RM Studio and Oart Space, Lahore,2021, ‘Our heart, ever seeking’ collaborative project of Rohtas 2 gallery and Khamsa, Lahore,2021. curated by Salima Hashmi, Solo show Mouzu-e-Sukhan in 2021, Naghma e Besada in 2022 (Tanzara Gallery, Islamabad), Calligraphy commission for State Bank of Pakistan, Sialkot in 2022. Nigaah Art Awards, 2023. Live Calligraphy Performance at 7th Faiz International Festival , Lahore, 2023. Live calligraphy performance at First Islamic Biennale, Jeddah, KSA, 2023.
The artist is based in Lahore. He teaches Persian miniature painting at Hast-o-Neest (Institute of Traditional Studies and Arts), and calligraphy and drawing at the Faiz Foundation. He has also served as visiting faculty at the School of Textile and Design, University of Management and Technology (UMT), Lahore (2019).
Artist's Statement
I have always been inspired by the great poets of the Eastern world. Their verses, therefore, have more than often appeared in my paintings, especially miniatures and calligraphy. My exhibitions so far have featured poetical creations of Rumi, Ameer Khusrau, Ghalib, Iqbal, Faiz, Bedil, Mohsin Naqvi and Hilal Naqvi. The present exhibition is an attempt to weave together a diverse group of poets whose works are laden with longing for their homeland while encumbered with forced separation. The genre is known as “habsiyāt” or prison poetry where poets have memorialized their incarceration in verse. Another facet of this show is the collage of different regional languages and scripts such as (in alphabetical order) Gurmukhi, Pashto, Persian, Punjabi, Sindhi and Urdu and sign language.
The range of poets included are Guru Nanak, Mas’ud Sa’ad Salman, Shah Abdul-Latif Bhitai, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Ghani Khan and ‘Ata Shad. Thusly, my current work is an additional collaboration with the motivational and inspirational ethos of all those literary figures that I have mentioned earlier. So, I have used their rich and everlasting words to create various calligraphic compositions based on the special technique known as siyah mashq.
Siyah Mashq is a style of Persian calligraphy that was originally used by calligraphers many years ago in Iran as a tool of practice. Siyah means “rough” and Mashq means “practice”. Students of calligraphy, in order to practice their skills, would write and rewrite words over each other, and in doing so, would fill up the entire sheet. Subsequently, calligraphers elevated this technique to the status of a recognized style of Persian calligraphy, and gave it the name of Siyah Mashq.
I have made a humble but sincere attempt to present the great poets’ work in an innovative and unique style using this technique. In doing so, I have not only focused on the calligraphy itself, but have also borne in mind the meaning of those words, which I have tried to portray and depict through my work, by creating the compositions embodying the emotions and the message expressed in the selected verses. Moreover, my work is presented in such a manner that it not only expresses itself as a work of calligraphy, but also appears to go beyond this into the territory of the genre of “painting”, by taking on some semblance of a painting.
Miniature Statement
The source of inspiration of my work is “Mehrgarh” which is one of the oldest civilizations of South Asia located in the present-day province of Balochistan, Pakistan. The first sight of the female figurines of the Goddesses excavated at this site cast a spell on my mind and intrigued me to pull out various interesting things. I explored two extra ordinary facets – firstly, this region was ruled by women and secondly there were no traces of weapons discovered in this civilization. It created a visual imagery of an unruffled society in my mind. Since my artwork is experimental in nature, I portray narratives and create relatable characters. I have tried to unearth the same on the surface of my work. The deluge of imagination escorted my way to relate the women of past to the women of present and effusing a “Landscape of Imagination”. These elements were evolved after continuous work process. In my opinion, my work reflects tyranny and delicacy at the same time. As I want to engage the spectator in the tiny details, anybody can relate to my paintings be it woman or man. It might also be related to “self”.