Risham Syed (b. 1969, Pakistan) received her MA from Royal College of Art, London and BA from National College of Arts, Lahore, where she studied painting and traditional miniature painting.
Risham works in mediums as diverse as drawing, embroidery, painting, weaving and quilting. Her work meditates on modern living at its most ordinary yet refined state. Her art documents changes in urban landscapes and the resultant effects these have on the lifestyle of the inhabitants threin. Risham’s practice critically focuses on the remains of cultural/historical inheritance and its perceived authenticity in present-day Pakistan. In her works, past folds into present through externalization taking the form of objects, which signify or symbolize time and space that is simultaneously intimate, invasive, even violent.
Risham has shown widely nationally and internationally including Fukuoka Triennial, Harris Museum, Preston, Mohatta Palace Museum, Karachi, Devi Art Foundation, Gurgaon, among others. Risham was the recipient of the prestigious ABRAAJ Capital Art Prize (2012). Her works are part of important public and private collections. Her recent projects include her solo show at Manchester Art Gallery in Manchester where her work conversed with the permanent collection of 18th, 19th Century painting. During this time she was also part of a show at Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester. She has also shown at the Asia Pacific Triennial in Brisbane, Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art in China.
Risham lives and works in Lahore and heads the Visual Arts Department at the School of Visual Art & Design, Beaconhouse National University (SVAD, BNU).