Sayera Anwar – SAIC Graduate Exhibition 2024

SAIC SHOWS 2024 GRADUATE EXHIBITIONS

Graduates

SAIC SHOWS 2024 GRADUATE EXHIBITIONS

Sayera Anwar

Master of Fine Arts in Studio, Photography

Graduate Exhibition Two

sayeraanwar4@gmail.com

Sayera Anwar (b. 1995; Anwar, Pakistan) is an interdisciplinary visual artist currently completing her Masters in Photography at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Anwar is originally from Pakistan and graduated with a BFA from the Beaconhouse National University, Lahore in 2018. Her work investigates home, borders and otherness, initially through her interest in the Pakistan-India Partition, and now within her diasporic experiences. In the past three years, Anwar have been nominated and selected for artist residencies, ‘Dūje Pāse toñ’’ (From the Other Side), commissioned by the South Asian Canadian Histories Association, and VASL’s annual artist residency – Taaza Tareen’13 in Karachi, Pakistan. Her work has been shown at the Full Circle Gallery in Karachi (2021), The Reach Gallery, Abbotsford, Canada (2021) and the SITE Gallery, Chicago (2023). Anwar is interested in virtual as well as in-person collaborative practices, academic research and community based work. Currently, she is pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in Photography at the School of Art Institute of Chicago, where she was granted the prestigious New Artist Society Merit Scholarship.

Sayera Anwar - 9 Potaliyan (Nine poultices)

9 Potaliyan (Nine poultices), 2024, Digital print, 8 x 8 in.

The Nine Potaliyan is a series of photographs that capture the fragrance of the homeland. The idea behind this project originated when I noticed the distinct smell of Pakistani soil after it rained in Chicago. Being away from home, I missed this particular scent. I decided to bring the soil to the United States to alleviate this feeling of homesickness. However, due to border restrictions, the soil had to be cleaned and transformed into sculptures, which were easier to carry as artwork. The outcome is a collection of sculptures that embody the essence of Pakistan.

Sayera Anwar - Like me, you are new

Like me, you are new, 2023, Video, 7:00 mins.

During my initial months in Chicago, USA, I found it difficult to navigate my surroundings. I realized that it's easy to get lost in a big city, which led me to an unplanned journey to Lake Michigan and an unexpected encounter with a stranger. The stranger approached me and asked if I could take his photograph because I looked like a professional to him, as I had a camera. This led to a conversation, and he told me that he was from Afghanistan. As I opened up about my roots, he realized that I was from Pakistan, which shares a border with Afghanistan. As 'others', we immediately warmed up to each other and talked about the familiarities of our culture and our experiences in America. He mentioned that 'like me, you are new'. It felt ironic that while trying to connect with the land, I was reminded of my unfamiliarity with it.

Sayera Anwar - Good Customers

Good Customers, 2023, Video, 5:09 mins.

While living in Chicago, I often felt homesick and found solace in Little India on Devon Avenue. I would speak to people in Urdu, a gentle and soothing language that my mother and I share. During one of my visits, I met a female shopkeeper in a boutique and asked if I could interview her about her experiences as a South Asian diaspora in Chicago. She agreed, and a few days later, I arrived at her shop with my camera. Despite being busy with a customer, she gave me the interview while attending to them. She usually did not have many customers, but I was happy to oblige her since she wanted to feel busy.

Sayera Anwar - “You Must”

“You Must”, 2023, Video, 6:17 mins.

"The work "You Must" is a conversation I had with an 85-year-old retired woman from Tennessee whom I met in Hyde Park. During our conversation, she asked me where I was from and how fast I learned English. She also shared details about her children and her marriage with me. She informed me that her marriage didn't work out, but she could raise her children and build a life for herself because she had a degree. Now, she doesn't have to rely on the government's welfare. Being 85 years old, she emphasized to me the importance of getting a degree. She also ensured that all three of her children earned a degree. Two of them now work in top-secret positions, and one has a degree in business administration.

Sayera Anwar - You are different than me

You are different than me, 2024, Video, 7:32 mins.

It's a conversation between me and a Syrian Babar. The Babar talks about his love for the United States and his love for his home country, Syria. With him, I am in a very different position because I have a choice to go back, whereas he doesn't.

Like me, you are new, 2023, Video, 7:00 mins.

Good Customers, 2023, Video, 5:09 mins.

“You Must,” 2023, Video, 6:17 mins.

My work revolves around home, migration, border lines, and the separation between two entities. I constantly question, cross, and blur these lines in my art.

When I moved from Pakistan to the US, I encountered a new type of border: the United States’s geographical border and its people’s intangible boundaries. Despite belonging to a homogenous society in Pakistan, I was open to meeting people from all over the world. I found that human emotions blur most boundaries. As a result, I created a series of video works that captured encounters with strangers outside of Chicago through chance and randomness. The artwork exists as video art pieces that record different dialects and the visuals of the surroundings where the conversations happened. The dialogues are with a refugee from Afghanistan, a retail seller from India, a retired woman from Tennessee, and Babar from Syria.

When I moved to the US in August, the soil in Pakistan had a distinct smell due to the rain. To avoid losing that smell, I brought soil from Pakistan to the US to create sculptures I documented through photographs. Eventually, I also took an extract of that soil.