Image: Nusra Latif Qureshi, Regal Blessings III, 2009. Image courtesy of the artist and the Hundal Collection, exhibited at South Asia Institute Chicago for Old Traditions, New Narratives: South Asian Miniatures

Intensive Saturday Study Event– online via Zoom, Spring 2021
The Courtauld with the South Asia Institute Chicago

Saturday April 10, 2021
15:00-17:00 [London] / 09:00-11:00 [Chicago]
£20 (£15 concessions)

Course Description

This Intensive Saturday Study Event, a new cross-cultural collaboration between the two institutions, will provide both historical and current perspectives on South Asia’s Imperial past. ‘Reflecting’ on the Mughals is pivotal to the way India and Pakistan envision their nations - and grapple with their (post) colonial history. It is hardly less important to the way Britain handles its colonial legacy - or deals with many of its significant museum collections. This Course is packed with different perspectives from artists, curators, collectors and art historians. operating from differing contexts, continents and concerns. Our debates revolve around the South Asia Institute of Chicago’s landmark exhibition, Old Traditions, New Narratives: South Asian Miniatures, which encompasses ‘traditional’ Mughal, Rajput and Pahari miniatures, ‘British’ Company School paintings as well as politically-inflected re-interpretations of historical styles from contemporary artists such as Rashid Rana, Shahzia Sikander, Imran Qureshi, Aisha Khalid, Olivia Fraser & Jethro Buck, amongst many others. The exhibition has been especially extended for the duration of this Study Event, which will create unique opportunities to experience the show virtually, meet its organizers and debate its dominant themes. Speakers will include the South Asia Institute’s founders – collectors Afzal and Shireen Ahmad – executive director Asad Ali Jafri, artist Nusra Latif Qureshi and South Asian art historian Dr Zehra Jumabhoy.

Organized by Dr Anne Puetz – Head of Short Courses, The Courtauld

Schedule of Events:

Zehra Jumabhoy Mirror Images & Double Vision will provide an overview of the politically-charged legacy of the Mughals in South Asia today. It will explore how and why the Mughals have continued to feature in contemporary art from the 1980s onwards in India and Pakistan.

Afzal Ahmad Old Traditions will concentrate on the so-called ‘traditional’ paintings in the Old Traditions, New Narratives: South Asian Miniatures exhibition, tracing their various syncretic phases.

Shireen Ahmad New Narratives will focus on contemporary artworks in the show, walking us through the rich visual offerings of selected artists.

Nusra Latif Qureshi in conversation with Asad Ali Jafri In-conversation with curator Asad Ali Jafri, the Australia-based, Pakistani artist Nusra Latif Qureshi will delve into her practice. Trained at Lahore’s famous National College of Arts, Qureshi will reveal how she updates traditional techniques for new audiences and diasporic contexts.

Debate with the audience moderated by Course Organizer Dr. Anne Puetz, Head of Short Courses, The Courtauld, London.