Dear Warda Shabbir,
The other day, someone asked me if I had seen a true feminist and a happy one. My unapologetic, single-word response was: many. It requires more time and a comprehensive effort to desensitise people to the misconceptions often associated with the term. A friend’s reluctance to be identified as a feminist artist sparked my introspection about the consequences, which later became part of Bano’s book. You introduce yourself as a feminist ecologist, embracing every connotation that comes with the expression. Every curious woman eager to understand the meaning of life and the existence of this world is a feminist. As I say, borrowing epistemological expressions from Platonic debates, anyone living in the real world as opposed to the ideal can be a feminist. Feminism is not gender-specific. All you need is self-awareness and awareness of your surroundings, understanding your own existence and circumstances.
Allow me to use your name as an example with an acknowledgment that it is indeed not easy to be a feminist, an artist and stress-free at the same time, as being aware isn’t easy. Being a mother, a nurturer, a visionary and an inventor is demanding. To an energised, inquisitive soul like you, it compels to explore the connections between social and environmental issues, highlighting how patriarchal societies often exploit both women and nature. Recognising the intersections of gender, power and the environment, your art presents an opportunity to retain one’s identity and individuality as a human being. Art may appear as a subversive approach to respond to ill-formed opinions, irrational values and other socio-political injustices, but at times it is the only option to survive in a selfish, patriarchal structure with integrity. Along with providing a comparatively safe space to individuals challenging societal norms, art has also given women an opportunity to articulate their concerns, feelings and thoughts.
For me, your installations offer an immersive experience of Arabesque ornamentation, characterised by intricate, curvilinear foliage, tendrils and flowers. Arabesque embodies concepts of unity, harmony, infinity, diversity and resilience. Trained in the Indo-Persian style of painting, you naturally excel at handling space within a pictorial framework. If others, read Shahzia Sikandar or Imran Qureshi, were able to deconstruct that space, you reconstructed it, rejuvenating it with sound, smell and temperature. This also challenges the criticism that your work is rooted in the style and principles of conventional miniature painting, mainly owing to the depiction of plants and animals, but also in the decorative elements and overall composition of your paintings, sculptures and installations. That reminds me to ask you about the fluidity of mediums and how easily you transition between them. The iconography, theme and execution of the thought process in all mediums remain embedded in one main concept: evolution and ecology. These ideas most often appear in the form of a garden; an emblem of adaptation, diversity and co-evolution. You convincingly envision a smog-free, fragrant and healthy environment filled with the melodious songs of birds, embodying love and peace for your own children and for humanity, who deserve it.
Speaking of love, I shall also appreciate your romantic approach towards life. I am not only referring to the 7-foot high, sprouting heart that recently appeared in your practice; I’ll get to that later. For now, let’s focus on Romanticists’ streak of giving due respect and reverence to nature and its various features. Exploring NASA’s research on plants that could survive and thrive on other planets sounds intriguing. Equally fascinating is your observation of the indigenous plants and their reproductive cycles. The way you mentioned the female plants of Lahore convinced me that some of them have already evolved into humans. They wander here and there, “move with foot and wings” and “would not suffer the axe blows and not the pain of saws”, mapping their way in colourful compositions. Or showing their passion for life in larger than life, bright red hearts singing, dancing and beating with the music of our times. Looking forward to listening to their love stories soon.
To more gardens that you tend and hearts that you touch!
Bano
October, 2025
