From Malakand: Artist creates rare portraits on a sieve

Almas Khanam hopes more women from her village would join the field of art

PESHAWAR: Women have produced art throughout history, their work, however, goes unnoticed particularly in a conservative environment such as Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Almas Khanam is one such individual, who hails from the Malakand Division.  The young artist has lived through the worst form of repression in her native land during Mullah Fazalullah’s rule, which is best known for public beatings and thunderous radio sermons — in which the mercurial cleric denounced polio vaccinations, among other topics.



Khanam, a female embroidery artist and sculptor, uses simple cotton threads to weave portraits of popular figures on a fine mesh strainer. So far, the young artist has created the delicate portraits of Abdul Sattar Edhi, Bacha Khan and even Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai who was shot during the peak of insurgency in Swat.

Through her rare weaving skills, Khanam captures every emotion and facial expression on the mesh with great precision. She plans pieces by first downloading an image of her subject on her mobile phone. She then spends hours to capture every detail on the mesh.

“My art is unique and nobody else has ever used the ‘flour sifter’ before me,” Khanam claimed. Her foray into the world of art is an unconventional choice for a woman in the traditionally conservative village of Haryankot.



Khanam has experimented with art and says her family fully supports her work.

“My father is my ideal. He is the one who taught me how to express my feelings.” Khanam said.  “Women cannot paint or create art that features men, but my family always encouraged me and taught me about famous personalities,” she said.

To create the portraits on a sieve, Khanam uses intricate combinations of white, black and red threads in the wefts and weaves, creating accurate depictions on the mesh.

“It takes me around 24 hours of uninterrupted attention to complete one portrait,” Khanam explained. The bright-eyed artist has big dreams for herself. She plans to enrol in a Master’s programme to receive formal art education.

“I have informed my family that I would do my master’s in fine arts and my father has already suggested that I try out for the National Council of Arts (NCA) for me,” Khanam said.

With her family supporting her, Khanam is hopeful that one day she will be able to make a major breakthrough in her field. “I hope more female students in this part of the country join the field of art,” Khanam said.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 5^th, 2019.