Amongst the luminaries who shone at the Lahore Literary Festival (LLF), recently held at the Alhamra Gallery complex, artist Shazia Sikander was undoubtedly one of the ‘super stars’. Not only did she receive the LLF’s ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’, but the excitement and interest her presence generated at the event was evident by the response of the audience present at her talks.

Belonging to the younger generation of Pakistani artists, Sikander is one of those who achieved international acclaim quite early in life and she has continued to maintain a distinguished presence in the global art world. Starting as a miniaturist at the National College of Arts (NCA), Lahore (1987-92),with Professor Bashir at a time when others were not interested in this genre.

She infused new possibilities and narratives into it, which for some may have been‘subversion’, but for many others a whole new world of creativity emerged in this traditional sphere of painting. Though rigorously trained in the painterly formalities of this art, she evolved her own vocabulary, becoming a trailblazer for future ‘contemporary’ or modern miniaturists.

The artist has been working on a variety of awe inspiring works since the past two decades, but her recent endeavour that was made especially for the 2013 Bienalle at Sharjah and which was also later exhibited at the Dhaka Art Summit, is the one that must be shared in detail in this discourse.

Titled ‘Parallax’, it involves techniques that Sikander had been exploring earlier, but on a much larger and spectacular scale. While a unique fusion of painting and animation has become her hallmark of late, here she also adds music and poetry, (in collaboration with composer Du Yun and three poets from Sharjah), so that a multidimensional art work emerges.

The history of the United Arab Emirates, especially its colonisation by the British, and the incident of the seizure of the fort of Ras Al-Khaimah in1809 feature prominently in this large scale visual experience that not only involves painstaking drawings by the artist but a mind-boggling engagement with digital technology.

She claims nonetheless, that she works “intuitively and organically”. The spade work for this project was not a studio experience, but involved extensive ‘field work’, such as interviewing common people, and driving through the terrain of the west coast of the peninsula facing the Persian Gulf and then across the Straight of Hormuz to Ras Al-Khaimah and even further. In fact, an additional work was also made in an abandoned cinema in Khor Fakkan.

The final collaborative multi-channel video that emerged from Sikander’s drawings, paintings and selection of sound effects were shared by her in a video presentation at the LLF event. Even though it was not the ‘real thing’, one could imagine the brilliant impact of the visuals that not only creatively reconstruct history, but take it forward to present times, including maps and symbols which reiterate the menace of modern day imperialistic paradigms as well.

The intellectually loaded discourse is equally fascinating in its aesthetic appeal, with the fluid and changing forms almost hypnotising the viewer. For onlookers, Sikander’s current manner of working is almost like that of a mesmerising alchemist, but the fact is that she has been working like a true prodigy, reminding one of the famous quote, “genius is 1pc inspiration and 99pc perspiration”.

Sikander is now working towards another significant project that will be opened on March 30, in Dhaka this year. Sponsored by the Bangladesh-based Samdani Foundation, it deals with redaction and omission in the historical discourse of East and West Pakistan, engaging local poets, musicians, artists, historians and writers in Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Sikander ardently wishes she could share her work in Pakistan, particularly in Lahore, but she is still in need of a forum that can facilitate this event. One hopes that this can be possible in the near future.