Basir Mahmood delivered a talk and displayed his work at Harvard University’s South Asia Institute (SAI) in December 2015. Basir Mahmood, who was recently awarded Emerging Artist Award 2015 by SAI, was visiting the institute as part of its Visiting Artist program.

During his stay, Basir Mahmood interacted with students and faculty on various occasions. He visited different courses and participated in an interactive workshop with students from the Harvard Pakistan Student Association. Besides this, he also exhibited his work and gave a public seminar about his work, titled ‘A memory, a monument, a material.’

During the seminar, Mahmood offered insights about his works, and showed that much of his work is very personal. “I’m a storyteller,” he explained, which is evident in his interest in art that portrays activities, stories, people, and real events in his life. The seminar was chaired by Jennifer Leaning, professor at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.

A faculty member and alumnus of the Mariam Dawood School of Visual Arts and Design (SVAD), Basir Mahmood has been raising his stature as an internationally recognized artist, whose works have been displayed at Royal Festival Hall, London; ARCUS Studio, Japan; Hong-Gah Museum, Taiwan; and Palais De Tokyo, Paris. Besides that, he has been awarded residencies in London, Istanbul and Japan. He has also received a yearlong fellowship from Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart, Germany.

Basir has previously been invited to deliver a lecture at Goldsmiths College, University of London. Now with this honor conferred to him by South Asia Institute at Harvard University, Basir has surely made BNU proud of his achievements.

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