☰
Head of Department
Mariam Dawood School of Visual Arts & Design
Prof. Risham Hosain Syed, Head of Visual Arts at BNU’s MDSVAD, is a renowned artist and educator. Her work explores history, memory, and urban transformation using textiles and mixed media. Through her art and mentorship, she shapes contemporary discourse, bridging traditional techniques with modern concepts in Pakistan’s art scene.
Prof. Risham Hosain Syed is a renowned Pakistani contemporary artist and educator, currently serving as a professor and the Head of the Visual Arts Department at the Mariam Dawood School of Visual Arts and Design (MDSVAD) at Beaconhouse National University (BNU). She received her BFA from the National College of Arts (NCA), Lahore, and later pursued an MFA from the Royal College of Art, London. With a career spanning decades, Syed has gained international recognition for her intricate and multi-layered works that explore themes of history, memory, and urban transformation. Her art has been exhibited in prestigious institutions worldwide, including the Asia Society Museum in New York, the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum in Japan, and the Lahore Biennale. She often employs textiles, miniature painting, and mixed media to depict socio-political changes in South Asian urban landscapes.
In addition to her artistic practice, Syed plays a crucial role in art education and curation. As an influential mentor at BNU, she fosters critical engagement with contemporary art, encouraging students to challenge conventional artistic narratives. Her curatorial projects have significantly contributed to shaping contemporary Pakistani art discourse, particularly in relation to history, colonial legacies, and globalization. Through her carefully composed installations, she reinterprets everyday objects and domestic spaces as sites of cultural and personal memory, challenging traditional boundaries between fine art and craft.
Syed’s work frequently examines the layered histories of cities like Lahore, portraying them as spaces of nostalgia, loss, and resilience. By incorporating fabric, embroidery, and archival imagery, she ties personal memory to collective history, creating immersive visual narratives that evoke themes of migration, displacement, and identity. Her ability to reconstruct fragments of architectural and domestic spaces allows viewers to engage with South Asia’s evolving landscapes.
Through both her artistic practice and academic leadership at BNU, Prof. Risham Syed continues to be a significant voice in contemporary art. She is not only shaping the next generation of artists but also contributing to critical conversations on history, identity, and cultural transformation. Her work remains a bridge between traditional artistic techniques and modern conceptual frameworks, making her one of the most influential figures in Pakistan’s contemporary art scene.
Main Campus 13 KM Off Thokar Niazbeg -
Raiwind Road, Tarogil, Lahore - 53700, Pakistan, Raiwind Road, Lahore
