Canvas With Varied Concepts
Tabish Haider is a twenty-two-year-old artist from Kashmir. He was born in Shehr-i-Khass and is presently living in Lal Bazar, Srinagar. He studied in Tyndale Biscoe School and later in Sri Pratap Higher Secondary. Currently, he is pursuing his graduation in Business Administration from the University of Kashmir.
Tabish is a self-taught artist. Inclined towards painting and drawing from an early age, he did his first art show at the age of 13 and later participated in various art-shows in Kashmir. He started with multi-coloured sunsets and later formulated abstract calligraphy. He is interested in subjects like art philosophy and poetry. During his early days in High School, Tabish started to question his Socio-Cultural identity which compelled him to roam through the narrow-cornered alleyways and climb vast mountain-peaks in search of answers. Being familiar with what the ancestors have built as heritage, for the generations to come, brought him closer to the expression of exploration.
He mainly works on canvas with varied concepts like calligraphy and illustrations, governed by political and social themes. He started painting at an early age and learned the techniques and ideas from the contemporary artists working in Kashmir.
His work is generally governed by his inner conflicts. A very deliberate artist, he spends hours staring at the canvas and tries to peel through what he wants to achieve. He works with geometry and primary colours to accomplish the most capable rendition of skill and expression. As an artist successfully expresses his deepest secrets in plain sight lying naked out there, the viewer has a responsibility to stop and feel and think again. Tabish believes in the proverb ‘silence isn’t empty, it is full of answers.’ He believes in the power of silence as it is expressive even to those who cannot hear but comprehend through the language of silence alone. Silence as a strength helps him to work and survive in a place which has been suffering in a political turmoil past many decades.
As an artist cannot survive without selling and exhibiting his work, he started looking for resources and platforms to promote artists. Unfortunately, because of the political situations in Kashmir, very few opportunities are available. He had to pave his way through to find the right network to establish his foot in the market. As his work started getting known, he sold his art to multiple clients.
Tabish was awarded a fellowship during which he worked on the social influence of Naga on the Baderwah community. He also worked with artists at Khooj International Artists’ Residency during the fellowship.
Apart from being an artist, Tabish is also Director of KashAway, an e-commerce company for artists in Kashmir. The operations of KashAway are currently affected due to the internet clampdown in Kashmir.
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