A journey home

In 50 years, people evolve, landscapes change and emotions don’t stand a chance. So when you ask artist Siddiqua Bilgrami how it feels to be back in Hyderabad with an art show after half-a-century later, she doesn’t say anything. She only wipes away her tears.

For someone whose first few sketches were created in Hyderabad, someone who grew up in the gallis of the city and went on to study art in one of the most prestigious universities in the city, life has come full circle with her art show — Landscapes of the Mind — ongoing at the Shrishti Art Gallery.

“Besides the show today, I last visited Hyderabad  16 years ago,” says Siddiqua who is currently based in Canada. “I’m here on personal work... and the idea to host a show just happened alongside,” she says. Siddiqua’s close friend had asked her to stay at her home and Siddiqua agreed, but that came with a condition. She says with a laugh, “I told my friend that if I was to stay with her, she would have to help me with my art show and that’s how it all started.”

Art at a young age
Her art journey started when she was about seven years old. But it wasn’t just art that interested her. “I wanted to do something in art or astronomy. But there weren’t many options with astronomy so I took up art,” says Siddiqua who went on to study at JNAFAU in 1963. Once she set foot into college, things just happened very quickly. “Immediately after the first few months at college, a classmate and I were promoted to the second year. I went on to apply for a scholarship in Italy, I got the scholarship and I subsequently left for Italy,” she says and that was only the start.

Two of her paintings on display at Hyderabad
Around the world
Over the years Siddiqua would travel to many countries and would have more shows, but it was her stay in Italy that set the ball rolling. “I trained under an Italian artist Guido La Regina in Rome. He was well-known for his abstract works and he taught me a few techniques.” She  later went on to become one of the earliest abstract artists in the continent. “My first solo show was in Italy in 1960,” she says. After her show in Italy, Siddiqua made it to Hyderabad with her show.  

“I distinctly remember, when I had brought my work to Hyderabad for a show in 1961, people were intrigued by it. A few of them didn’t like it, because it was abstract, something that was very new back then. The others wanted to know more,” she recalls. After a few years Siddiqua went on to display her work at Pakistan, a place that would soon become home for 30 years.

The artwork that was bought by Pakistan’s Zulfikar Ali Bhutto

Apart from the fact that her art work was bought by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the then foreign minister of Pakistan, personally,  too, things were going to change for the young artist. “When family members would ask me about marriage I would tell them that ‘art is my first love’. But when I was on the ship to Pakistan, I had a premonition about my marriage and I even penned down a poem,” she says. At Pakistan, she had a successful show, people were impressed with her work and she eventually happened to get married there. After her wedding, Siddiqua settled in Karachi for 30 years after which her family shifted base to Canada.

Now
Siddiqua and her husband went on to have three children, but she never let go of her art. “I look long pauses between my work, but I knew that I would always return to art. I never painted to sell art... I painted when I wanted to say something and so there would be long periods of time when I wouldn’t paint,” she says. Having travelled to many places and through different emotions, Siddiqua’s art did evolve. “I am influenced by emotions and my thoughts. I worked with the various elements of nature to describe what I felt too... but the current show is all about a higher connection, spiritual connection. The paintings also showcase places that I have visualised,” she explains.

Siddiqua is from one of the earliest batches of female students from JNAFAU,  back during in a time when women were still fighting for their rights, and she says, “I never felt any disparity. I feel that if you do have talent, you will survive and that’s what happened.” After so many decades, ask her what has changed in the art scene and she says. “Back in the days it was a completely different scene. People actually  took time out of their schedule and stopped by art galleries on their way back home.”

 

 

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