Salima Hashmi

Salima Hashmi

Salima Hashmi  born 1942) is a Pakistani painter artist, former college professo and anti-nuclear weapons activist. She has served for four years as a professor and the dean of National College of Arts. She is the eldest daughter of the renowned poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz and his British-born wife Alys Faiz.

She represents the first generation of modern artists in Pakistan who carry an artistic identity different from indigenous artists. She is known for condemning the Pakistani and Indian nuclear programs; she is one of the few Pakistani intellectuals who condemned the nuclear tests by India and Pakistan in 1998. She received the Pride of Performance Award in 1999 for her services to the nation.

Background

Hashmi was born to Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Alys Faiz in 1942 in Ne

w Delhi, India. She has one younger sister, Muneeza Hashmi. Salim

a is a maternal cousin of Salman Taseer, the former Governor of Punjab, Pakistan. She migrated with her family to Lahore during the partition of India in 1947 and was raised in Lahore. After studying design at Lahore's National College of Arts (NCA), she moved to England in the early 1960s. Salima studied at the Bath Academy of Art in Corsham. She received a diploma in art education from there in 1965. Salima also studied at the Rhode Island School of Design, US.She married a fellow professor Shoaib Hashmi. The couple has a son, Yasser Hashmi. Her husband Shoaib Hashmi retired from a teaching position at Government College University, Lahore, and was also a popular co-star with her in comedy television shows on Pakistan television in the early 1970s.

Arts

Hashmi is one of the most well-known artists of Pakistan.

Besides being an accomplished painter, she taught at Pakistan's prestigious National College of Arts (NCA) for about thirty years and served as the principal of NCA for four years.[6] In 1999, she received Pakistan's 'Pride of Performance for Arts' award. She also co-founded Lahore's Rohtas 2 Gallery, an art gallery featuring works of young artists ]Salima Hashmi has exhibited her works internationally and she has travelled all over the world and lectured extensively for it.] She has organised several international art shows in England, Europe, US, Australia, Japan and India

Bibliography

Hashmi also authored a critically lauded book titled "Unveiling the Visible: Lives and Works of Women Artists of Pakistan" in 2001. In 2006, Hashmi co-authored a book with Indian art historian Yashodhara Dalmia titled 'Memory, Metaphor, Mutations: Contemporary Art of India and Pakistan', published by Oxford University Press. Her latest work, a series of illustrations to accompany English translations of her father's poetry by her husband Shoaib Hashmi, is in process of publication