Biography

Gateway, 2001

Sajad Hamdani born 1971 in Srinagar, Kashmir.


He takes his inspiration from the gigantic maple trees and freshwater lakes that were the playgrounds of his childhood. The violence that these childhood playgrounds have been rife with also appears in his works.
For Sajad, art is the process. And he says, “The process is a never ending creation and can be pursued to be as large as one can imagine - the idea is between the relation of one object to another.” Sajad’s artistic journey began when he quit school in 1987 at the age of 16. After quitting school, Sajad took up many odd jobs, amongst which were stints as an apprentice with a carpenter and a commercial artist. A few years later, in 1989 life changed drastically for Sajad as it did for all Kashmiris due to political turmoil in the Valley. He suddenly found himself indoors all the time. His exploration began; he educated himself through reading books, looking at paintings. A self taught painter, Sajad created a large body of works even before he joined the BFA course. He often supported his studies by selling his paintings. Sajad still paints and often prefers to sell paintings rather than his sculpture.
As a BFA student, Sajad began to understand the political underpinnings of the functioning of the Institute as well as the work that was produced there or not produced there. On graduation Sajad worked as an art teacher for six months in Delhi Public School, Jammu and then went on to pursue an MFA at Visva-Bharati University.
At Kala-Bhavana, Visva-Bharati he was awarded merit scholarships for both of his years and passed out with a first class first. The two years at Santiniketan shaped Sajad’s artistic journey anew and were the best productive years of his creative endeavours. Santiniketan brought him the realisation that it is not only the techniques, skills or intellectual pursuits that brings the artist closer to beauty and truth but a right atmosphere is also essential. During the two years in Santiniketan Sajad worked with many ideas which were in close proximity with nature, with the landscape. The tropical environment was abundant with trees, weeds and grass; widely used by the local tribal people in their day to day life. With the availability of these materials, different ideas sprung and were executed in to full scale sculptures.
After completing his Masters he could not return to Kashmir with its hostile situation. He stayed on at Santiniketan for more six months but couldn't continue working further due to financial reasons. An offer of a job in an alternative school in Bangkok,Thailand, where he taught arts for one and a half year, took him on a different path.

EXPERIENCES


MAY 2013 - PRESENT : Assistant Professor, Department of Sculpture, Kala-Bhavana Visva-Bharati University Santiniketan. 2011- 2012 : Media Advisor Center For Buddhist Studies Visva-Bharti University Santiniketan.2008 -2009 : Media Advisor Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art Culture and Languages.2006 - 2008 : Lecturer (Sculpture) at Institute of Music and Fine Arts (Govt Art College), Srinagar, J&K.2004 - 2005 : Art and English Teacher at Roong-Aroon School, Bangkok, Thailand2000 : Art teacher at Delhi Public School, Jammu.1994 - 2000 : President of Contemporary Art Foundation ‘artistscommune’ (first contemporary artists group in Kashmir).
Empathy, 2002

EDUCATION


2005 : Certificate course in Creative English Writing from British Council, Bangkok Thailand2001-2003 : Master of Fine Arts (Sculpture) from Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan, W.B., India1993-2000: Bachelor of Fine Arts (Sculpture), from University of Kashmir, Srinagar, J&K, India

AWARD AND SCHOLARSHIPS


  • Lalit Kala scholarship 2003-2004 by Lalit Kala Academy New Delhi
  • Merit Scholarship for the years 2001-2003 from Visva-Bharati University Santiniketan, WB
  • Merit Scholarship for the years 1999-2000 from Institute of Music and Fine Arts, Srinagar.
  • Gold Medal (Sculpture) at National Youth Festival held at Punjabi University Chandigarh; 1997-1998.

PUBLICATION


  • ‘Forbidden Paradise My Homeland’ a collection of poems, 2005
  • Various articles and essays of art in a daily local newspaper “Greater Kashmir”.


FILMS


  • Snow Sculpture Festival (Documentary) 2006.

  • Sufiyana Mousuqi (Sufi Music of Kashmir), a documentary; 2007.

  • Bangkok Blues (Fiction) 2004.

  • Folk Instruments of Kashmir (Documentary) 2008.


COLLECTIONS

India, France, Ireland ,Thailand and Hamburg Germany.