ouache and Irani ink on Arches paper

70.25” x 44.5”

In addition to Khorshid Fruit (2023) and the five paintings of My City (2024), Hakeem also contributed to Elyas Alavi’s Sound of Silence, nearby in Akbari Mahal.

Khorshid Fruit translates to mixed fruit in Persian, and represents the diverse crowd Hakeem has encountered after moving to Lahore, which makes her feel safe as a minority. In the painting, the artist created trees by collaging newspaper-cut texts with words like “unsafe,” “targeted,” “Quetta,” “Afghanistan,” and “poor” to reflect the narratives of how Hazara people are perceived publicly. Nonetheless, colorful plants grow vibrantly out of this negativity, signaling the restorative power of the earth against human biases and cultural essentialism. Using nature as a metaphor for social relations and identity formation, Hakeem skilfully appropriates the visual language of miniature painting traditionally used by the ruling Mughals and Persians to express the plight of the long-oppressed and displaced Hazaras.