Artists in Residence – Fatimah Nadeem from Karachi, Pakistan
The Artists in Residence video and blog series is a look into the quarantined lives of artists and creatives all over the world! The interview questions offer an insight into how different people from all over the world are coping with the current Covid-19 pandemic. Each artist also shares a fun little project you can do at home!
This episode of the series features Fatimah Nadeem, a young artist from Karachi Pakistan.
Q. Tell us a little about yourself.
A. My name is Fatimah Nadeem, and I am a 20 year old self-taught artist from Karachi, Pakistan. My inspiration comes from emotions, memories, people, and places. My religion and my city hold a very special place in me, thus most of my writing and artwork brings personal observations and stories. I hope to connect with others through my art and bring light to those in need.
Q. In what way have you grown in this current lockdown?
A, I think I am able to share my struggles with my siblings more openly and honestly.
Q. What has been your biggest frustration?
A. The uncertainty! And especially online school, I feel it’s way harder and strict than regular school, some teachers don’t understand personal struggles of every individual student and there is a lot of miscommunication since both teachers and students aren’t able to talk face to face.
Q. Can you share a fun creative project with us?
Q. How has art helped you to cope? What activities do you do?
A. Getting a break from all the time spent commuting to school has made me more active, even though we're having online classes, I take time out to work on personal projects. I am experimenting with new forms of art, such as animation, digital illustrations and photography, this lockdown has, in a way, given me more time to think and improve my ideas and do things that I am hesitant to start.
Q. Do you have any rituals our routines that you have stuck with?
A. I started out with Yoga, when the lockdown initially started. In the first week or two I personally felt myself panicking a lot, even at home, and decided to go over simple routines before sleeping to relax my mind and muscles.
Q. A kind act you’ve witnessed during the lockdown?
A. Many! It is hard to focus on good news when the world is in such a whirlwind. Here are some local institutions and people helping with COVID: The Bait-us-salam Institute has been taking up the responsibility to deliver food all over Karachi using donations, many private individuals have also donated essential groceries, young people have volunteered for help in isolation wards, artists are coming up with campaign ideas to encourage people to wear masks and create awareness, many medical students have come up with teams and groups of people to help come up with cost-friendly ways of producing safety wear and suits, ACF ( Aisha Chundrigar Foundation) has continued their efforts in saving stray and abused animals from the streets of Karachi.
Q. Biggest takeaway from the quarantine to date?
A. We might plan for the present, for the future and for many years to come and we might also think how much we can control of the future but God is the being that is in control of that, and if He wants, a tiny microscopic virus can pause the entire world.
Q. Favorite thing you’re eating? Any recipes to share?
A. I recently learned how to make dumplings from YouTube tutorials and they’re such a healthy and delicious dish!
You can follow Fatimah here:
Blog\Instagram: www.instagram.com\fatimah.creates
Youtube: www.youtube.com\fatimahcreates
If you would like to be part of this series please leave a comment below. What are you doing to stay busy and positive during the current pandemic? Share your thoughts below!
Stay tuned for more artist interviews and videos from around the world!
Stay Home and Stay Safe,
MZ