The 2nd episode on IGTV is Hira Kazmi, a Pakistani Instagram Artist based in Pakistan. How I had got in contact with her was through Instagram, I had notice her work on my explore page and then started to follow her work. I had messaged her to see if she wanted to be part of workshop and she had agreed. We then started to chat more and actually she has become one of my good Instagram friends. We have had video chats, I seem to get a better understanding of how she started to be creative. Her degree is Human Genetics and she uses art as a hobby to destress herself. She says it’s her own form of “Self care”, which has got me more to paint and use art as a self care method.
Hira is paried up with Farha Bi (Profile)
Information:
Hi, I am Hira Kazmi from a small village in Pakistan.
In 2019, I completed my MS in Human Genetics, attended international conferences, presented my work in the international exhibition at TCC McKeon Centre for Creativity, Tulsa, USA, Rooftop art centre, UK and met people from different background and discussed about all the issues. That was the time I realised that gender equality is a global issue and I should voice it. I turned that pretence into art and art has its own language. One of my illustration is included in a book “Plague 2020”. In the last few years, I taught myself Illustrations to give physical form from a south Asian woman’s perspective, paying particular attention to our emotional landscapes – to gestures, people and feelings left unsaid such as mental illness and women rights. I am just another brown girl trying to convince this society that freedom of thoughts and speech matters.https://www.behance.net/hirakazmi1
https://www.instagram.com/_art.in.action/?hl=en
Artwork
The art work Hira has created is an illustration based on Farha Bi (Profile). Using sentences and words that have been used in Farha information. What I love the most is the women in the middle covering her ears to what people are saying to her. It’s feels like she’s trying to keep herself sane without listening to everyone negative comments around her.So far this is one of the best ones I have seen in this workshop, as everything is thought out even the colours. The women headscarf and Nose Hoop best describe our culture too.
Overview
I feel like the discussion went quite well, with the questions that I had asked. I had sent her a couple of questions before, via email so she can prepare her notes. The only issue was the connection, which I knew would have happened as she’s in Pakistan. It was amazing to learn in more depth of how she got herself into art and where her work has been exhibited.I love how she spoke more about gender roles, Freedom of Speech and importance of career