ABOUT
Saima Rasheed is a UK based artist born in Lahore and currently living in the North of England. Trained in South Asian miniature painting at the National College of Arts, her practice has developed into a contemporary painting language grounded in discipline, layering and precision.
Her early work in Pakistan centred on women’s agency and representation. Through intimate, autobiographical imagery, she examined the social and political realities shaping women’s lives, foregrounding resilience, presence and self definition. This concern with visibility and voice continues to inform her practice.
Following her move to the UK, Rasheed’s focus expanded toward migration, identity and the lived experience of displacement. Working between South Asia and Britain, she explores how colonial histories and cultural inheritance shape belonging. Personal memory and historical reference coexist within her paintings, reflecting the complexity of living between geographies.
Layering, repetition and meticulous mark making operate as both formal and conceptual devices. The construction of surface mirrors the accumulation of memory. The repeated nuqta becomes a durational gesture that slows time and demands attention. Gold and ornamental pattern are employed critically, referencing authority, value and inherited structures rather than decoration.
Across her practice, Rasheed brings together the intimate and the political, exploring how identity is formed through history, migration and lived experience.
In 2018, she was short listed for the Sovereign Asian Art Prize. In 2016, She was invited to display her work at the Colombo Biennale, Srilanka. Nominated for Jameel Art Prize. In 2004, Rasheed was artist in residence at the Ecole de Art, Aix-en-Provence,France. She is a recipient of The Arts Council of England Award for an exhibition and workshops at The Bhavan Centre, London.
CV
Saima Rasheed
[email protected]
Education
2021 – MA Fine Art (Distinction), Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
2000 – BA Fine Arts (Miniature Painting), National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan
Solo & Major Shows
2021 – Love Thy Neighbour, Poetry Library, MMU / Asia Triennial Manchester
2018 – On Being, Zellij Arts at Alexandria Library, Manchester
2016 – Conceiving Space, Colombo Biennale, Sri Lanka
2015 – Ejaz Gallery, Lahore, Pakistan
2014 – Louver Gallery, Karachi, Pakistan
2006 – Eastern Echoes, The Bhavan Centre, London
2002 – Ejaz Galleries, Lahore
2002 – Rohtas Gallery 1, Islamabad
Selected Group Shows
2024 – BRHD, Ankara, Turkey
2023 – I am another you, you are another me, 10th Asia-Europe Mediations Biennial, Istanbul, Turkey
2022 – Where is Home?, Leicester Museum & UK Tour
2021 – Isolated, Istanbul Contemporary Art Fair, Turkey
2020 – Liv-Ing in Contrast, Art Ankara Contemporary Art Fair, Turkey
2018 – The Sovereign Asian Art Prize Finalists Exhibition, Christie’s, Hong Kong
2018 – The Manchester Contemporary (with Asia Triennial Manchester)
2017 – Recollection: Memory & Time, Portico Library, Manchester
2004 – École des Arts, Aix-en-Provence, France
Residencies
2004 – École des Arts, Aix-en-Provence, France
2001 – South Asian Women Artists Residency, ASR/IWSL, Lahore, Pakistan
Awards & Nominations
2018 – Finalist, The Sovereign Asian Art Prize, Christie’s, Hong Kong
2017 – Nominee, Jameel Art Prize
Publications
Wander Walks (Arts Council England, 2024) – Sensory walk contribution
For Us, To Share (Southwark Galleries, 2022) – Recipe book project with migrant and refugee youth
Book Illustration – A Teardrop on the Cheek of Time, Diana & Michael Preston, Random House, 2007
Press
https://inprogress.mmu.ac.uk/saima-rasheed/
http://www.bigissuenorth.com/centre-stage/2017/07/blog-saima-rasheed/
https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2142561/sovereign-asian-art-prize-finalists-show-their
http://www.luxuo.com/culture/art/sovereignasianartprize-2018.html