January 19, 2013
Islamabad — Pakistani-American artist Shahzia Sikander has been honoured with the US State Department's inaugural Medal of Arts for her "outstanding commitment" to the "Art in Embassies" programme.
US Medal of Arts Winner – Pakistani-American artist Shahzia Sikander
January 19, 2013
Islamabad — Pakistani-American artist Shahzia Sikander has been honoured with the US State Department's inaugural Medal of Arts for her "outstanding commitment" to the "Art in Embassies" programme.
US Medal of Arts Winner – Pakistani-American artist Shahzia Sikander
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton conferred the award on Sikander at a ceremony in Washington, the Daily Times reported.
With an eye on cultural exchange and visual diplomacy, the "Art in Embassies" creates permanent and temporary art exhibitions in over 200 diplomatic venues worldwide.
Sikander's works have been on permanent display at the US Consulate in Karachi since 2011.
The award acknowledged the artist's commitment to the "Art in Embassies" programme and to international cultural exchange.
Sikander has been instrumental in reviving the old Indo-Persian tradition of miniature painting. Her work spans a variety of mediums, including drawings, large-scale wall installations, animation and video.
Born in 1969 in Lahore, Sikander currently lives and works in New York City. She studied at the National College of Arts in Lahore, and later at the Rhode Island School of Design.
Her work is seen in collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art among many others.
She has conducted exhibitions at many venues worldwide including Dublin, Sydney and Venice.
Among many recognitions, Sikander was appointed a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in 2006.
She is also the recipient of the Tamgha-e-imtiaz, Medal of Excellence award from the government of Pakistan in 2005.
"I think a lot of my work is really also about translation. The distance between the original or the idea of the original and what may be an interpretation or something even," Sikander said.
Courtesy: IANS
