Biography
Through mixed-media sculpture—often featuring taxidermy animals and toys—installations, photographs, drawings, and paintings, the Abraaj Group Art Prize-winner Huma Mulji explores the history and contemporary society of her home country. Running through her work are the associated themes of displacement, migration, borders, and cultural interchange. For her, life and reality are sources of inspiration. In her words: “Reality is absurd and appalling at once . . . Or the truth is incredulous . . . I do not mean to trivialize tragedy and pain . . . but I do attempt to speak through whimsical and surreal images. I favor the poetic over the dogmatic, complexity over simplicity.” Mulji has expressed such an outlook through works including Arabian Delight (2008). Featuring a taxidermy camel crammed into a suitcase, it represents the uneasy mix of Arabic, Muslim, South Asian, and Himalayan cultures that characterizes Pakistan today.
