Sheherezade Alam

Sheherezade Alam (19 June 1948 – 19 May 2022) was a Pakistani-Canadian ceramist.[1][2][3]

Early life and education

Alam was born in 1948 in Lahore, Pakistan to Mahmoud Alam, a Pakistani former tennis player and his wife, Surayya, in Lahore.[4] She had two brothers, Asad and Shaban. Brought up in Lahore, she completed her FA from its Kinnaird College.[4] She went on to obtain her Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Design with a distinction in ceramics from Lahore's National College of Arts (NCA), where she studied under the country's first ceramist, Salahuddin Mian. She later became an artist-in-residence at Yale University. She taught at the NCA, as well as at Bilkent University (Ankara, Turkey).[4]

Personal life

In 1971, she married Zahoor ul Akhlaq (1941–1999), a painter, and the couple had two daughters, Jahanara (1974–1999) and Nurjahan (b. 1979). Zahoor and Jahanara were murdered in their home in Lahore in 1999 by a visiting acquaintance, Shahzad Butt, a roti merchant of the city. The killer could give no reason for having turned his gun on them.[5]

Career

Shows

Group

Solo

  • 1990: Chawkandi Arts, Karachi
  • 1993: Ish Gallery, Ankara, Turkey
  • 1994: Bismillah, Arcadia Art Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  • 1996: Clay Continuum, Gardiner Art Museum of Ceramic Art, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  • 2004: Offering Bowls, Arcadia Art Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  • 2005: Laali, Ceramic Installation, Private Residence, Lahore
  • 2006: Laali, The garden of Imran Mir, Karachi

References

  1. ^ "Pakistani-Canadian ceramicist channelled joy and grief into her work". The Globe and Mail. 8 June 2022.
  2. ^ Shuaib, Haroon. "Sheherezade Alam: A Soulful Life of a Kooza-Gar (Vessel-maker)".
  3. ^ Acclaimed ceramist Sheherezade Alam passes away, tribune.com.pk. Accessed 28 July 2022.
  4. ^ a b c "Bio". Sheherezade Alam. Retrieved 26 October 2010.
  5. ^ Circumstances of murders of Zahoor ul Akhlaq and his daughter, Jahanara, dawn.com. Accessed 28 July 2022.
  6. ^ Group exhibition opens at Vogue Art Gallery Daily Times 21 November 2009. 26 October 2010.