South Asia Institute, in partnership with the University of Chicago, Division of the Arts & Humanities, with support from the Ahmad Visiting Professorship, is delighted to welcome acclaimed artist, educator, curator, and writer Salima Hashmi for the launch of her memoirs and a special conversation reflecting on her remarkable life shaped by art, literature, family, friendship, and the cultural history of South Asia.
The evening will feature a conversation between Hashmi and SAI co-founder and art collector Shireen Ahmad. Longtime friends, Hashmi and Ahmad will draw upon decades of shared connections, bringing a personal dimension to the stories, people, and experiences recalled in Hashmi’s memoirs.
An influential figure in Pakistan’s cultural landscape, Salima Hashmi has spent decades as an artist, educator, curator, writer, and advocate for the arts. The daughter of celebrated Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Alys Faiz, her own distinguished career has included a longtime association with the National College of Arts in Lahore and extensive work documenting and championing artists from Pakistan and across South Asia.
The evening offers audiences a rare opportunity to encounter South Asian art and cultural history through the memories of someone who has not only documented it, but lived it.
About Salima Hashmi
Salima Hashmi is an artist (b. 1942, Delhi), curator and contemporary art historian. She was founding Dean at the Mariam Dawood School of Visual Arts and Design at Beaconhouse National University, Lahore in 2003 where she is now Emerita Professor. She taught at the National College of Arts, Lahore, for 30 years. She was also the Principal of the College for 4 years, and held the post of Professor of Fine Arts. She is a painter of repute whose works have been exhibited in Pakistan and in international exhibitions. She has written extensively on the arts, and has curated exhibitions of contemporary art and traditional textile, within Pakistan and internationally. Salima Hashmi was the co-founder of the Rohtas Gallery in Islamabad, established in 1981, and established Rohtas-2 in Lahore in 2001, which has focused on young artists and new art practices. Her book “Unveiling the Visible- Lives and Works of Women Artists of Pakistan” was published in 2002, ‘Memories, Myths, Mutations – Contemporary Art of India and Pakistan’ co- authored with Yashodhara Dalmia for Oxford University Press, India in 2006. She edited ‘The Eye Still Seeks – Contemporary Art of Pakistan for Penguin Books, India in 2014. “Nazar Ki Umang” the Urdu translation of ‘The Eye Still Seeks’ for Sang-e-Meel, Pakistan in 2020. Salima Hashmi curated “Hanging Fire” an exhibition of Pakistani Contemporary Art for Asia Society Museum, New York in 2009, which was accompanied by an extensive catalogue. She curated the critically acclaimed exhibition titled ‘This Night-Bitten Dawn’ hosted by Gujral Foundation and the Devi Art Foundation in Delhi, which opened on the occasion of the Delhi Art Fair, 2016. ‘Watan’ by Graciela Magnoni at 1x1 Art Gallery, Alserkal Avenue Dubai; 2024. She recently curated a show of South Asian artists “(Un) Layering the Future Past of South Asia” with Manmeet K. Walia at SOAS Gallery, London. The government of Pakistan awarded her the President's Medal for Pride of Performance for Art Education in 1999. The Australian Council of Art and Design Schools (ACUADS) nominated her Inaugural International Fellow, for distinguished service to art and design education in 2011. She was awarded the Alma Award by Alma Culture Center, Oslo, Norway for promotion of tolerance through performance in 2016. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Bath Spa University, UK in 2016. Professor Hashmi was made Professor Emerita, School of Visual Art and Design, Beaconhouse National University in 2017. She was awarded Sughra Rababi Lifetime Achievement Award in the field of art in 2024. She was awarded Lifetime Achievement Award in the field of art at Lahore Literary Festival in 2024. The government of Pakistan awarded her with Sitara-i-Imtiaz in the field of Visual Arts in 2025. She is Council member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
