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The Artist Project

The Artist Project: Shahzia Sikander

Artist Shahzia Sikander reflects on Persian miniature painting in this episode of The Artist Project.
From March 2015 to June 2016, we invited 120 artists—local, national, and global—to choose individual works of art or galleries that sparked their imaginations. In this online series, artists reflect on what art is, what inspires them from across 5,000 years of art, and in so doing, they reveal the power of a museum and The Met.

"My interest was to understand the social construct of the so-called 'traditional genre.'"

Artist Shahzia Sikander reflects on Persian miniature painting in this episode of The Artist Project—an online series in which artists respond to works of art in The Met collection.

About the Artist
Shahzia Sikander, born in 1969, is a Pakistani artist who works in drawing, painting, animation, large-scale installation, performance, and video.

Color direct gravure entitled

Shahzia Sikander (American, born Lahore, Pakistan, 1969)

Orbit, 2012

Color direct gravure; plate: 27 × 21 1/4 in. (68.6 × 54 cm), sheet: 26 × 29 1/2 in. (66 × 74.9 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Stewart S. MacDermott Fund, 2013 (2013.154) © Shahzia Sikander

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Art Mentioned

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"Laila and Majnun in School", Folio 129 from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami of Ganja, Nizami, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
"Laila and Majnun in School", Folio 129 from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami of Ganja
Multiple artists/makers
931 AH/1524–25 CE