Project Description
SAMEETA AHMED
Born 1970, Karachi, Pakistan.
Sameeta
Ahmed
Born 1970, Karachi, Pakistan
Born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan and formally trained as an artist and architect, I have a bachelor’s degree in Fine Art from Brandeis University in Massachusetts, USA, and a master’s degree in Architecture from the University of Texas at Austin. I have had parallel careers in fine art, architecture, and academia, and continue to do historic conservation work on cultural heritage sites.
As a visual artist, I have had solo shows in Lahore and Islamabad, and my work was included in a retrospective exhibit of Pakistani art (“The Rising Tide,” curated by Naiza Khan) at Mohatta Palace Museum, Karachi. In 2023, my series “Wahdat ul Wujud/Unity of Being” was showcased at the National Gallery of Art, Islamabad, the premiere art venue in Pakistan. Currently, I am Artist-in-Residence at Kainaat Studios, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA. As a long-time member of the Mauj Media Collective, I have worked in New and Digital Media. In 2015 I founded EarthWaterNetwork, an organization to bring together art and climate activism.
In my artwork, I fuse traditional calligraphic mark-making with expressionism, create mixed-media incorporating Sufi philosophy and poetry, and integrate postmodern aesthetics with traditional notions of beauty. My latest multidisciplinary work sits at the border of digital
photography, painting and calligraphy, exploring a contemporary visual language for reasserting the metaphoric and ideologic into rational, empirical discussions at the edge of the Anthropocene.
Collections & Commissions
Bahrain, Boston-USA, Los Angeles-USA, Karachi-Pakistan, Islamabad-Pakistan.
Curatorial Experience
Co-Curated Faiz Day Celebration, with art, music and talks. (Hosted by Pakistan Association of
Greater Boston. November 23, 2024)
Co-Curated with Dr. Sarah Farid: RICKSHAW OF RESILIENCE Art Party with Women Artists &
Supporters. (Frere Hall Gardens, Karachi, October 24, 2024)
“Ta’alluq: Poetry Curated with Music & Performance Art” (T2F, Karachi & The Black Hole,
Islamabad, Pakistan. Aug ‘24. Dugdugi Artists Collective)
“Eastern (Edge): Welcoming Spring with Music & Art” (Cambridge Pub. Library, Boston, USA. Jun ‘24, MPV-Boston & partners)
“ReEmergence” (T2F Gallery, Karachi, 2024)
Curator-Darya Gallery (Climate Action Centre, Karachi, 2024)
“Urban Expressions” (Karachi Institute of Technology & Entrepreneurship, 2020)
“Faculty Art Show” (Architecture Dept-Univ. of Engg & Technology, Abbottabad, 2009)
“Dugdugi Creative Arts Festival” (co-curated with Imran N Siddiqui & F Ihsan, Islamabad, 2005)
“Feet in Both Worlds: Art of Women of South Asian Origin” (co-curated with Riti Sachdeva, Harriet Tubman Center, Boston, 1993).
Exhibits & Events
2024
Artist, “Mark of the Word-Maker”/Naqsh-e-Sukhan Saaz” Art Exhibit, Collaboration with American artist Justin McIntosh. Accompanied by Performance Art. Medway Public Library, Greater Boston area, USA. Hosted by Medway Cultural Council.
11th December– 23rd December 2024
2024
Participating Artist, Karachi Biennale Mushaira. Hosted by Karachi Biennale Foundation, Sambara Gallery, Karachi.
2nd November 2024
2024
Artist, “Mark of the Word-Maker”/Naqsh-e-Sukhan Saaz” Art Exhibit, Collaboration with American artist Justin McIntosh. Accompanied by Performance Art. Lincoln Corner, Karachi, Pakistan.
23rd August – 2nd September 2024
2024
Curator & Artist. “Ta’alluq: Urdu Poetry Curated with Music & Performance Art” at The Second Floor (T2F), Karachi, Pakistan. Hosted by Dugdugi Artists Collective.
9th August 2024
2024
Curator & Artist. “Eastern (Edge): Welcoming Spring with Music and Art” show & art exhibit at Cambridge Public Library, Cambridge, MA, USA. Hosted by Muslims for Progressive Values & partner organizations.
9th June 2024
2024
“He Loves Beauty” Series. Paintings inspired by Sufi sayings, exhibited at Williams Chapel, Harvard Divinity School, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
April 2024
2024
Artist. “Re-Emergence/Irtiqa” Intl. Women’s Day Group Art Exhibit and Show. T2F Gallery, Karachi, Pakistan.
March 2024
2024
Talk: “Art & Culture Trends in the USA: Personal Observations from an Extended Visit” at the Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture (IVSAA), Karachi, Pakistan.
28th February 2024
2024
Curator, Darya Art Gallery, Climate Action Centre (CAC), Karachi, Pakistan.
February 2024 — May 2024
2024
Artist’s Talk, “The Themes of My Work, and My Artistic Journey – Sameeta Ahmed.” Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Hosted by: South Asia Center & Pakistan Association of Greater Boston (PAGB)
13th January 2024
2024
Artist in Residence, Kainaat Studios. Founded and Directed by Professor Salman Hameed of Hampshire College, Kainaat Studios is a science education organization based in Amherst, Massachusetts, USA.
January 1 – May 30 2024
2024
“Discovery—Daryaft: An Exhibit About Science & Sufism”; 2-person show with Naveed A Waghani, featuring mixed media paintings and video art. Darya Gallery, Climate Action Centre (CAC), Karachi.
November 2023 – January 2024
2023
Interview: ‘What’s Your Mantiq? with Poet, Artist and Architect Sameeta Ahmed’, conducted by artist and Mantiq-of-the-Mantis Director Mehreen Murtaza, live on Instagram.
9th September 2023
2023
Artist-in-Residence, “Darya Gallery”, Climate Action Centre (CAC), Karachi.
October – November 2023
2023
Group Show “Lost Soles of Karachi”, by KooKoos Collective, Karachi. Venue: The Dawood Foundation (TDF) Ghar.
7th October – 31st October, 2023
2023
2-person Show titled “HAQ” (Seeking the Truth). “Wahdat-ul-Wujud (Unity of Being)” series by Sameeta Ahmed, National Gallery of Art, Islamabad.
Organised by the Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA) & Nomad Gallery.
14th to 21st September 2023
2023
Group Show titled “Convergence”, Full Circle Gallery, Karachi.
21st March – 21st April 2023
2017
Mural developed and painted for performances “Akhri Darakht” and “Sun ray Sun”, at the Seminar on Climate Justice, Marriott Hotel, Karachi. Organised by EarthWaterNetwork and Shehri-CBE.
August 2017
2011
Design Team Leader, Group Installation, ‘City in Nature’ for Mauj Media Collective. Mohatta Palace Museum at the The Rising Tide – A Retrospective of Modern Art in Pakistan
1st November 2010 – 29th March 2011
2011
Mural Painting ‘Indus Rivers Pakistan’
Mohatta Palace Museum at the The Rising Tide – A Retrospective of Modern Art in Pakistan.
2008
Faculty Art Exhibit
Architecture Department, University of Engg. & Technology Peshawar (Abbottabad Campus)
2008
External & Simple
Museo de la Ciudad, Guadalajara, México.
2008
Digital Design Workshop – ‘Engineering Beauty: Finding the Creative Practitioner’.
Organized this month-long digital design workshop conducted by Architect Judy Cockeram, University of Auckland, New Zealand. Jan.15-Feb.15 2008. Department of Architecture, NWFP UET, Abbottabad.
2006
Art Exhibit, Kara Film Festival.
Karachi
2005
Instructor, and Mural Paintings for School. Also set up Fine Arts Dept. for GCE ‘O’- levels.
Headstart Academy, Islamabad
2005
Theatre Design –Mural Painting and design of stage sets for Henrik Ibsen adaptation “Mimar-e-Azam”
National Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA). Karachi
2002
Fine Arts Solo Exhibit. “Aurtain Jo Keh Nahin Hain (‘Women Who Don’t Exist’)”
Nomad Art Gallery, Islamabad
2002
Fine Arts Solo Exhibit. “Aurtain Jo Keh Nahin Hain (‘Women Who Don’t Exist’)”
National College of Arts, Lahore
1993
Fine Arts Group Exhibit with ISWAA (Indian Subcontinent Women’s Alliance for Action) , now South Asian Women’s Alliance (SAWA)
Harriet Tubman House, Boston, USA.
1992
Thesis Group Show
Brandeis University. Boston, USA
————
Various Freelance Fine Arts projects and consultancies in Graphic Design
Independent work in Mural Design & Painting, Graphic Design, and Art Teaching. Various cities, including Karachi, Peshawar, Abbottabad, Islamabad, Austin, and Boston in the United States.