Bio
Farida BATOOL is a visual artist interested in exploring Pakistan’s political upheavals and tumultuous history, and developing a comprehensive cultural critique of everyday life. She received her BA in Fine Arts from the National College of Arts, Lahore, her MA in Art History and Theory from COFA at the University of New South Wales, and her PhD from the Centre for Media Studies at SOAS, London. She has been teaching since 1997 and currently is the Dean of Faculty of Humanities, at National College of Arts, Lahore. She has exhibited extensively in many international and local solo and prestigious group shows. She is an active member of Awami Art Collective which aims to use art in public spaces to generate a discourse of peaceful co-existence. She was involved in many art projects and community workshops for awareness raising among women communities in several urban and rural areas of Pakistan as well as conducted cultural and political dialogue among different communities. Batool presented papers and presentations at international conferences and workshops including Yale University USA; Society for Cinema and Media Studies, Montreal, Canada; Oxford University, St. Joseph’s University Philadelphia and many more.
Artist Statement | I, too, am a part of this history
Farida Batool's works attest to the scars in Pakistani society caused by decades of unrest. To portray the dilemmas, dichotomies and the negotiations with the dominant ideology, Batool has employed multi disciplinary approaches and wide range of media, which best suited the need of the representation in a certain way. The use of photography is integral to her work. WorldCup 2016, is an installation of footballs with human skin and hairs printed on its surface. The grossness of the images is reminiscent of the bombardment of images of violence thrown at us, as consumers of violent images, by the media, in order to inform how mutilated bodies and razed cities across the globe are forming our new landscape.

Artist Statement | Knowledge of the Ancients
To communicate the profound connection between indigenous medicinal plants and healing traditions carried through generations, I explore my grandfather’s hikmat: his writings and healing practices involving local indigenous plants for a variety of medicines. My mother learnt these practices by observing and helping her parents make medicines. This transfer of knowledge through generations is a vital symbol of cultural heritage and local wisdom. These works serve as tales of love and healing embedded in our ancient knowledge systems.

Farida Batool
World cup ‘16
Digital print on synthetic leather
Dimensions variable

Farida Batool

Healing Garden 1 | 2024 |  3 glass prints of 20 x 20 inches each | print on glass | Editions: ⅕