Healing through Art: Restoring the Soul
Faiz Ahmad Faiz, one of the most illustrious poets of the subcontinent, often wrote about the indomitable spirit of humanity. His poetry evoked that sentiment beautifully, and it came through in his writings through his various political incarcerations.
His wife Alys was the ultimate humanist, and ART FORUM SF proudly presents their daughter and Pakistan’s artist Salima Hashmi in conversation with their granddaughter Professor Mira Hashmi.
In times of the Pandemic, where the universe has been held hostage by the Covid virus and its variants, we look towards Art for more reasons than just aesthetics. It helps us endure, survive and sustain in times that mimics the loss and the pain of our darkest hours connected to the partition or the wars and our exiles. Art Forum SF proudly presents a woman who is contemporary Pakistan’s leading voice for Art and Humanism.
The world we live in sometimes may seem like it is enveloped in darkness and entangled in a web of chaos and suffering, especially in this past year of communal and viral anguish,” says Ms. Kiran Malhotra, board member of Artforum SF. Furthermore, Ms. Malhotra refers to Joe Haldeman, American Film Director, News Writer, who once said, “Anyone who sees clearly, sees chaos. Art is a way of temporarily setting order to confusion.”
Salima Hashmi is a true rarity in this world, an accomplished painter, a successful educator, a vocal change agent, a feminist, an activist, and an inspiration. Her life and work mark a social change path and transformation from which she has never wavered or strayed. Her art, her words, and her actions all drive her quest for a better world.” as very evocatively described by Dr. Robert Mintz, deputy director of Asian Art Museum San Francisco.
To listen to an acclaimed Pakistani artist and public intellectual, SALIMA HASHMI, in conversation with Mira Hashmi, attend a virtual event HEALING THROUGH ART on June 17 | 8:30 PM PST.
In these “uncertain times,” Art Forum SF presents Virtually SALA (South Asian Literature & Arts), Live Series, Episode 3 on Facebook: www.facebook.com/southasianartforumsf and other @ARTFORUMSF channels. The event introduction is by Dr. Robert Mintz, deputy director of the Asian Art Museum.
Lahore-based artist, curator, and contemporary art historian, Salima Hashmi was the founding Dean of the Mariam Dawood School of Visual Art & Design, Beaconhouse National University. Previously a Professor of Fine Art at National College of Arts [NCA] Lahore and Principal of the College. She is a founder member of the Women’s Action Forum and currently a Council member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
MIRA HASHMI is a film study assistant professor at the Lahore School of Economics. A graduate of the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema at Concordia University in Montreal. Her first book, Gulzar’s Ijaazat: Insights into the Film, was published in 2019. For more information visit: www.artforumsf.org.
Internationally celebrated, multiple award-winning media personality, Tushar Unadkat is the CEO, Creative Director of MUKTA Advertising, and the Founder, Executive Director of Nouveau iDEA, Canada. He holds a Master of Design from the University of Dundee, Scotland, and BA Honors in Photography from the University of Wolverhampton, England. Finalist for 2019 Men of Honor Award and 2019 and 2014 Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award, Unadkat executed art direction in the film, fashion, advertising, and events industries in the USA, England, Scotland, France, Germany, Netherlands, India, and Canada.
