Dawn Images

LAHORE: Renowned ceramist Sheherezade Alam will exhibit 10 aspiring and established ceramists alongside herself on April 2 and 3 2016 from 11am to 6pm at 90 Upper Mall.

Titled, Our Clay Legacy, The Studio 90 Collective, as mentored by SheherezadeAlam, would present the work of Amjad Ali Daudpota, Aqsa Khan, Afshan & Nosheen, Faiqa Lone, Ibtisam Saleem, Kalsoom Mehmood, Amna Shariff, Rabia Oneeb and Waseema Saleem, said press release on Monday.

The two-day open house would exhibit a range in 150 pieces, from jewellery to masks, bowls, pots and more.

Our Clay Legacy reflects Sheherezade Alam’s continued drive to celebrate, reinterpret and revive the regions rich clay heritage –over 11,000 years old and dating back to the ancient civilisations of the Indus Valley and Harappa. It endeavors to connect the community with artists and establish an educational and social connection for the public, making accessible to them the value of our heritage.

“The Studio 90 Collectives’ very ethos is one which rests of the need to re-learn how to be intimated with clay so we can breathe life again. Our vision is to engage with the five elements; earth, fire, water, air and ether to create vessels that relocate, reflect and preserve to continue what is vanishing– our clay heritage. Indeed clay chose me so that the earth would dance in my hands,” said Sheherezade Alam.

Sheherezade Alam is the first person in South Asia to be elected to the membership of the International Academy of Ceramics, Switzerland, who continues to mentor a generation of artists. She is an alumnus of the National College of Arts, Lahore, where she majored in design, her exposure to pottery came through regular visits to the Shahdara Pottery Development Centre during her college years, and her early works were inspired by the vernacular pottery forms. Her work is on display at a UNESCO-funded exhibition called ‘Re-discovering Harappa’ at the Lahore Museum.

Originally published in Dawn, March 29th, 2016