Hira

Portrait of artist Hira Nabi in a natural environment with trees, looking up to the sky

Nabi

Hira Nabi is an emerging Pakistani artist and filmmaker. She questions and disputes the idea that humans are at the center of everything, a belief deeply ingrained in (Western) art and philosophy. She directs her attention towards the environment and everyday life, aiming to show how everything is connected through her art. In doing so, she offers a broader perspective on contemporary times, rather than focusing exclusively on human experience.

Her work goes beyond human action and experience to recognise the natural world around us, including plants, animals and ecosystems, as entities in their own right. By combining critical enquiry with a personal aesthetic vision, she demonstrates the next generation's ability to resist mass populism and reclaim individuality.

Her work has been featured in a number of group exhibitions including Colomboscope in 2019 and Lahore Biennale in 2018. Other venues where she has shown include: SAVVY Contemporary, Berlin; Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin; Ashkal Alwan, Beirut; Johann Jacobs Museum, Zurich; Warehouse421, Abu Dhabi; Extra City, Antwerp; MIT School of Architecture and Planning, Cambridge, MA; Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH; and the New School, New York.

She has been featured at film festivals such as CPH:DOX, Sundance, AFI DOCS, Rencontres Internationales and Dokufest.  She was awarded the 2020 Next Generation Prince Claus Award and was nominated for the IDA Short Documentary Award (2021) and the Han Nefkens Foundation Award (2020). She lives and works in Amsterdam and Lahore.

A still from Wild Encounters, 2023 © Hira Nabi.
A still from Wild Encounters, 2023 © Hira Nabi.
Aya Musa, Foam curator

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