Meet Rabia S. Akhtar (@rabiasakhtar) (b.
Pakistan) as we look forward to her first solo exhibition, Nothing in the Sunshine, at Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery | London.
Private View: Thursday, 27th of June 2024, 6-8pm. All welcome!
“Hidden within the long grasses of a luscious outcrop lies a giant radish with tears streaming down its cheeks as crows peck at its blushing body. This hopeless hybrid creature – half human, half vegetable – is a recurring character in her latest series of miniature paintings, which employ the language of myth and fairy tales to negotiate the point at which dreams and reality meet.
The world that Akhtar paints is rooted in her fascination with the creatures of Urdu fables, cartoons and folk tales. Growing up in Karachi, she very rarely came into contact with animals and has used her practice to imagine encounters with the animal kingdom.” Text @milliewalton
Akhtar is a Karachi based artist, with a BFA from the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture. In 2023, Akhtar received the Nigaah Art Award for Emerging Artist. In 2020, her artist book Bogus Villa Buds was shown at the Sharjah Art Foundation. Residencies include the Valletta 2018 Foundation and Fondazzjoni Kreattività. She is a writer and researcher for the Karachi Biennale Trust.
Exhibitions include: Where Wild Roses Grow, Schloss Goerne, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, Germany (2023); The Emperor’s New Clothes, Numaish Gah, Lahore, Pakistan (2023); Internal Landscapes, duo exhibition with Rabia Farooqui, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, Berlin, UK (2023); All Things Shall Perish, O Art Space, Lahore (2022); The Body and Beyond: Women’s Movements in Pakistan, Lahore Biennale Foundation, Lahore (2022); Pretty Art for Pretty People, Sanat Initiative, Karachi (2020); Every Road is a River, Ministry for Gozo, Gozo, Malta (2020); Artist Statement 5, Czong Institute for Contemporary Art (CICA), South Korea (2020)
1. In the studio
2-3. Lunar Impulses, 2024
4-5. Dumb Cranes (Enchanted Song), 2024
6-7. Hollow World, 2025
8. Internal Landscapes, KHG, Berlin
9. Where the Wild Roses Grow, Berlin
