[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:27.90,0:00:30.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,SHAHZIA SIKANDER:\NThere's something about the process,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:30.64,0:00:36.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the miniature process of painting \Nin this scale, primarily,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:36.08,0:00:39.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which keeps it in control.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:42.92,0:00:45.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm basically staining the paper
Dialogue: 0,0:00:45.78,0:00:49.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it has to be a very even stain.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:51.24,0:00:53.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's slow. and you have to keep the edge
Dialogue: 0,0:00:53.44,0:00:57.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the tea really, sort of, always in flow
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.92,0:01:01.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so that you just drip the \Nwhole edge down steadily.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:04.72,0:01:06.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's very meditative,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:06.96,0:01:10.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and there's a sense of familiarity
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.24,0:01:12.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because a lot of years have gone in here.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:12.94,0:01:17.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(scraping)
Dialogue: 0,0:01:22.20,0:01:25.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One thing I've learned is respect for tradition
Dialogue: 0,0:01:25.08,0:01:27.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and respect for patience,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:27.48,0:01:30.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because you just cannot achieve anything,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:30.76,0:01:33.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like you can't achieve a painting if you don't...
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.04,0:01:36.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Like you need time. Time is the key.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:36.04,0:01:38.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I can't, like, do a show
Dialogue: 0,0:01:38.80,0:01:41.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and prepare a body of work in a year.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:41.24,0:01:43.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I need three to four years.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:47.03,0:02:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(bells ringing)
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.00,0:02:05.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Miniature painting, you know,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:05.56,0:02:10.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,comes out of book illustration, \Nmanuscript, painting.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:10.28,0:02:11.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's an old art form.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.52,0:02:16.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All the strange piled up, stacked up perspective,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:17.24,0:02:21.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,interior spaces and then \Nsuggestions of windows and doors,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:21.04,0:02:24.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which suggest the outside \Nworld or the spiritual world,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:24.00,0:02:26.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or some notion of perfection.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.12,0:02:36.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That kind of jewel-like, \Ntranslucency that comes through
Dialogue: 0,0:02:36.32,0:02:38.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is only because you have a discipline behind it.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:42.20,0:02:44.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It takes many, many layers,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:44.20,0:02:48.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at least like 10 to 20 layers of different color,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:48.40,0:02:49.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to build it up.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:50.00,0:02:52.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And you have to be very careful,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.16,0:02:54.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because if your brush is \Nloaded with too much water,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:54.52,0:02:58.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you lift off the earlier layers of pigment also,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:58.48,0:02:59.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,'Cause they're not sealed.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.48,0:03:02.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, it's practice.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:04.04,0:03:06.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Sometimes, like when I'm not in practice,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.40,0:03:11.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,all the 10 years of experience \Ndoesn't mean a thing.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:19.04,0:03:22.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But when we were studying in school in Pakistan,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:22.04,0:03:27.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,my teacher used to have us sit \Non the floor on white sheets
Dialogue: 0,0:03:28.52,0:03:30.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and you get to leave your shoes outside.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:30.24,0:03:33.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And everything was very precise and very clean
Dialogue: 0,0:03:33.56,0:03:35.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and very minimum.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:36.72,0:03:40.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And you worked on your work \Nand you did eye exercises.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:40.76,0:03:45.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You kept your work at least \Na foot away from your eyes.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:45.56,0:03:47.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it was very methodical.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:47.60,0:03:48.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it had a very sort of...
Dialogue: 0,0:03:48.64,0:03:51.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was very ritualistic also.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:54.81,0:04:08.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Bells ringing)
Dialogue: 0,0:04:13.32,0:04:17.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I feel like acquiring a \Nminiature painting early on...
Dialogue: 0,0:04:17.08,0:04:18.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For me, it was painting.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:18.84,0:04:20.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was looking and understanding
Dialogue: 0,0:04:20.24,0:04:22.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the formal sensibility of painting,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:22.60,0:04:24.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,except I was not painting on canvas.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:24.44,0:04:25.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I was painting on paper
Dialogue: 0,0:04:25.76,0:04:28.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with a particular set of material,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:28.84,0:04:32.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but it was all about surface, palette, form,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:32.72,0:04:35.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,composition, stylization.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:36.60,0:04:39.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And self-expression came later.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:40.84,0:05:03.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(bells ringing)
Dialogue: 0,0:05:03.36,0:05:06.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A lot of my work is deeply personal
Dialogue: 0,0:05:06.20,0:05:08.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and is drawn out of memory.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:09.64,0:05:12.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you look at this particular border,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:12.72,0:05:17.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's called riding the written \Nand here the text becomes
Dialogue: 0,0:05:17.80,0:05:21.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,more like horses or there's \Na suggestion of movement.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:21.48,0:05:26.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that aspect is my \Nexperience of reading the Quran,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:26.92,0:05:30.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where I would read it with \Nno particular understanding
Dialogue: 0,0:05:30.52,0:05:33.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because I was a child and I could read Arabic,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:33.32,0:05:35.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I couldn't understand it.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:35.36,0:05:40.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the memory of it is this amazing visual memory
Dialogue: 0,0:05:40.48,0:05:44.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where the beauty of the written word
Dialogue: 0,0:05:44.88,0:05:46.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,supersedes everything else.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:48.76,0:05:51.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The meaning is there, but \Nit's not just the meaning.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:51.04,0:05:53.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's the ability of the written \Ntext to take you to that
Dialogue: 0,0:05:53.76,0:05:54.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,other level.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:59.64,0:06:04.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(bells ringing)
Dialogue: 0,0:06:04.08,0:06:07.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My whole purpose of taking on miniature painting
Dialogue: 0,0:06:07.16,0:06:12.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was to break the tradition, to experiment with it,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:12.00,0:06:14.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to find new ways of making meaning
Dialogue: 0,0:06:14.56,0:06:17.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and to question the relevance of it.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:23.18,0:06:25.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(paper crinkling)\NThe starting point in all my work,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:25.08,0:06:27.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whether it's small or it's large,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:27.08,0:06:29.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,actually begins as simple drawings,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:29.32,0:06:32.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which are done on transparent tissue paper.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:37.16,0:06:43.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A lot of the images that exist \Nin my work were happening
Dialogue: 0,0:06:43.00,0:06:44.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because I was interested
Dialogue: 0,0:06:44.60,0:06:48.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in subverting Hindu
Dialogue: 0,0:06:48.24,0:06:50.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with Muslim and Muslim with Hindu.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:52.80,0:06:55.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Having grown up as a Muslim in Pakistan,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:55.92,0:06:59.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I didn't have much information \Nabout Hindu mythology.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:59.96,0:07:01.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And when I came here,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:01.68,0:07:03.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I realized that these were the things
Dialogue: 0,0:07:03.72,0:07:06.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which still interested me.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:16.20,0:07:20.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I was looking at the \Nidea of the Hindu goddess,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:20.60,0:07:22.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but it didn't matter how many hands it had.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:22.92,0:07:24.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Just the notion that it was the female body
Dialogue: 0,0:07:24.72,0:07:26.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with several hands was important.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:26.60,0:07:29.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the goddess has a very specific face.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:30.04,0:07:32.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And here I was dripping off the face and,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:32.48,0:07:36.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and putting, like, a \Nheaddress-like veil on top of it.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:36.48,0:07:39.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And yet the veil is on top of a Hindu goddess,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:40.44,0:07:43.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not to underestimate what's behind the veil.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:47.28,0:07:51.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The minute you bring the \Nword veil into the equation,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:51.52,0:07:55.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it kind of connects you to a Muslim identity
Dialogue: 0,0:07:55.32,0:07:56.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or a woman's identity.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:56.64,0:07:59.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And these are very loaded issues to take on
Dialogue: 0,0:07:59.68,0:08:02.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because anything and everything \Nassociated with Islam
Dialogue: 0,0:08:02.28,0:08:03.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is either terrorism...
Dialogue: 0,0:08:03.70,0:08:06.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,<v ->Um-Hm.</v>\N...or oppression for women.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:07.52,0:08:11.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Culturally, it's not, you know, my experience.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:13.00,0:08:15.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My grandparents, my parents, everybody was very,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:15.72,0:08:18.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,very progressive, very supportive people.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:18.76,0:08:22.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My grandfather was very encouraging
Dialogue: 0,0:08:22.04,0:08:25.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,towards careers for women, with everybody.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:25.88,0:08:27.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All the girls in the family.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:27.40,0:08:29.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They did something with their lives.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:31.24,0:08:33.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,<v ->But then I was not keen.</v>
Dialogue: 0,0:08:33.12,0:08:35.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If she's going to the National College of Arts,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:35.12,0:08:38.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then she might as well do \Narchitecture, which has scope.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:38.40,0:08:43.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know? And like, you know, \Nwhen she said fine arts,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:43.20,0:08:44.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,one was a bit, you know...
Dialogue: 0,0:08:44.56,0:08:47.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At the most, you just hang a \Nfew paintings in the house,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:47.88,0:08:51.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whether you have a future or not.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:51.02,0:08:52.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(laughing)\NThat was so rude.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:52.13,0:08:53.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,<v ->So I was skeptical about that.</v>
Dialogue: 0,0:08:54.75,0:08:58.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(forklift whirring)
Dialogue: 0,0:09:05.72,0:09:06.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,<v ->This type of work for me</v>
Dialogue: 0,0:09:06.96,0:09:08.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was, like, just the opposite
Dialogue: 0,0:09:08.84,0:09:11.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the process of doing miniature painting.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:20.14,0:09:21.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(paper sliding)
Dialogue: 0,0:09:21.55,0:09:25.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This particular installation \Nis much, much more spontaneous.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:25.28,0:09:26.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it's always a challenge
Dialogue: 0,0:09:26.60,0:09:30.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because the decisions made are fast.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:33.00,0:09:34.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It involves my entire body.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:34.52,0:09:39.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's like I'm working within \Nthe space and I'm up and down,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:39.36,0:09:41.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you know, the ladders and I'm like painting.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:41.08,0:09:44.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then, everything kind \Nof happens from start to end
Dialogue: 0,0:09:44.68,0:09:46.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,within like four, five days.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:46.56,0:09:50.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, there's a certain energy which comes out.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:52.88,0:09:55.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There is a certain sense of a little relief.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:55.68,0:09:59.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Where several drawings have \Nbeen hung on top of each other,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:02.92,0:10:04.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there's no intention to hide anything.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:04.92,0:10:08.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Everything is very visible. \NThe paper is transparent.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:08.52,0:10:10.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It floats, it moves.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:13.00,0:10:16.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The idea, you know, comes out \Nof this whole relationship
Dialogue: 0,0:10:16.44,0:10:18.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to veiling and revealing.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:26.44,0:10:29.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm always taking photographs, doing sketches
Dialogue: 0,0:10:29.32,0:10:31.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or taking notes.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:31.08,0:10:34.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then, I carry them wherever I go.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:36.80,0:10:39.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I brought so much stuff from Pakistan
Dialogue: 0,0:10:39.48,0:10:42.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then so much stuff from Texas.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:42.08,0:10:45.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then, every time I sit to do some work,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:46.12,0:10:47.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,all of it is opened up.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:54.92,0:10:58.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For me, it's always like these divine circles.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:58.36,0:11:00.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, you go and you experience something
Dialogue: 0,0:11:00.04,0:11:02.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then you come back right where you started.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:12.22,0:11:16.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When I'm working large and \NI paint and I do murals,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:16.36,0:11:19.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the next thing is always, I \Ncome back to miniature painting.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:25.56,0:11:28.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I can hate miniature for a while
Dialogue: 0,0:11:28.32,0:11:29.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because it's frustrating
Dialogue: 0,0:11:29.44,0:11:31.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because for all the different reasons
Dialogue: 0,0:11:31.80,0:11:34.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of doing something so labor intensive, you know,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:34.96,0:11:37.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which takes years to make.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:37.12,0:11:40.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So it's like always, "Why do I do this?"
Dialogue: 0,0:11:40.12,0:11:41.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I let go and I do something else,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:41.92,0:11:43.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I always come back to it.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:44.56,0:11:48.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And maybe because by the sheer act of doing it
Dialogue: 0,0:11:48.56,0:11:53.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is what gives me certain sort of...
Dialogue: 0,0:11:53.40,0:11:54.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you know, peace.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:56.05,0:12:16.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(soft piano music)