This episode of Making a Mark explores a new body of work by Lahore-based artist Ali Kazim (b. 1979), including the artist's first major body of etchings.
Kazim introduces Alphabets, 19 prints illustrating a different letter from the Urdu alphabet. From the gallery in London, the artist discusses his choice of imagery and the significance of different motifs such as the tiger, a hoopoe bird, pyjamas and the Koh-I-Noor diamond, each charting and illuminating the diverse and complex history of South Asia.
Kazim discusses a related series of watercolours, the medium he is best known for, and what inspires him, which includes Mughal miniature painting, the Bengal School’s watercolourists, and discovering collection displays at the Lahore Museum and the Ashmolean Museum in the UK.
Kazim's new body of work highlights the urgency of maintaining a connection to our native languages in an era of migration and exile.
Contributors include senior director David Cleaton-Roberts who discusses the exceptional techniques Kazim used to make the prints, and writer and curator, Hammad Nasar, who explains the subject matter in further detail.
Presented by writer and critic, Charlotte Mullins.
Artworks discussed in the episode can be viewed online via https://cristearoberts.com/podcast/
Photo: Ali Kazim working on his 'Alphabet' prints at Simon Lawson Prints in London, 2025.
Courtesy artist and Cristea Roberts Gallery, London. Photo: Darrell Tuffs
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