Lala Rukh was recognised by the international art world late in her life, but has been—and is — extraordinarily influential in Pakistan and South Asia on generations of artists and society-at-large. This Artist’s Room features works in various media and spanning a 22-year-period, including the animation Rupak, based on the percussive scheme of a Hindustani classical taal with a seven-beat structure, plus, among other works, Mirror Image 1–3, made in response to riots that erupted after the demolition of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya in 1992.

Artist’s Rooms

Drawn largely from the Art Jameel Collection, Artist’s Rooms is a series of solo exhibitions by influential, innovative artists, with particular focus on practitioners from the Middle East, South Asia and Africa. These capsule shows are collaborative: curated in dialogue with the artist, with some presentations including new commissions. Winter 2018-19 features rooms by Maha Malluh, Mounira Al Solh, Lala Rukh and Chiharu Shiota in galleries 1, 2, 3 and 10.

About Lala Rukh

Lala Rukh (1948 – 2017) was born in Lahore, Pakistan. She studied art at Punjab University, Lahore, Pakistan (MFA) and University of Chicago, Chicago, USA (MFA). She taught for 30 years at Punjab University, Department of Fine Art and the National College of Arts where she set up the MA (Hons) Visual Art Program in the year 2000. After retiring from teaching, Lala Rukh devoted her time in her studio in Lahore and to activism, becoming known as among the foremost feminist activist artists of South Asia. Lala’s work was most recently exhibited at Dhaka Art Summit (2018), Documenta 14, Athens (2017), Yinchuan Biennial (2016), Drawing Room, London (2017), and Sharjah Biennial 12 (2015). The Estate of Lala Rukh is represented by her niece, Maryam Rahman.