Risham Syed is a visual artist and a Professor of Fine Arts, heading the department of Fine Arts at the Mariam Dawood School of Visual Arts & Design, Beaconhouse National University, Lahore, Pakistan. Risham has a diverse art practice in which painting, sound and other mediums are employed to explore questions of history, sociology, and politics. Her native city Lahore plays a pivotal role in her work, as do related inquiries into what the colonial history of the region means to today’s global south. She explores these questions using her painting and textiles as pieces of a greater, often global context through installation and
engages sound, objects, borders, margins, frames with social reference and connotation. Her use of fabric, embroidery, found objects, music along with her painting speak about her
connection with the personal, as well as historical, weaving in history with the present moment. Risham has shown extensively in major national and international exhibitions including solo show at Newark Museum of art (2025-2027), Unn, Pani, Sut at Sharjah Biennial 2025, Manzar, Art & Architecture from Pakistan 1940 onwards at the National Museum at Qatar, Doha (Nov 2024-Jan 2025); Hayy Jameel, Jeddah; the Manchester International Festival 2023; Jameel
Arts Center, Dubai; Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester; ABRAAJ Capital Art Prize, Dubai; Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester; Asia Pacific Triennial, Brisbane; Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art, China; Mohatta Palace Museum, Karachi; National Gallery of Art, Islamabad; National
Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai; Harris Museum, Preston, Barbican Center; London and the Fukuoka Triennial, Japan. Her work is part of important public and private collections. Risham is the recipient of several prestigious awards like the ARRAAJ Capital Art Prize (2012) and the British Council WOW (Women of the World) Award 2021.
Risham Syed is a graduate of the National College of Arts, Lahore and has an MA from Royal College of Art, London.
