Ali Sajid was born on March 30, 1980, in Peshawar, Pakistan, a city scarred by terrorism but rich in culture. He earned a gold medal in his bachelor’s and completed his master’s in fine arts from the University of Peshawar in 2004. He then took advanced courses in Singapore and Tokyo to refine his skills.
He worked as a creative director in Singapore and as an urban sketcher in Tokyo before returning to Peshawar in 2014. He now serves as an assistant professor at the City University of Science and Technology. He is also the president of the All Pakistan Artists Association Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chapter.
He founded the International Watercolour Society School of Painting in Pakistan in 2016. His work focuses on preserving Peshawar’s vanishing heritage through watercolour. He paints the city’s historical architecture, bustling markets, and the faces of its people, often depicting places that no longer exist due to terrorism.
“Art cannot exist in a vacuum. It should not attempt to become detached from one’s roots.”
His watercolours are vibrant and bold, a technique that is difficult to achieve in the medium. He uses overly vibrant colours to enhance the city’s beauty and change perceptions about Peshawar. His work has been recognised by Oxford University for its impact on contemporary South Asian landscape painting.
Ali Sajid has won numerous international awards, including first prize at the International Watercolor Festival in Dubai in 2018. He also won the Daniel Smith Award in Fabriano, Italy, in 2016 and the Landscape Artist Award at the Albania Biennale in 2017. He has exhibited in over 22 countries across the world.
His paintings are held in prominent collections, including UNESCO, UNHCR, and museums in Italy. He has also received the Living Human Treasure Award from the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He continues to teach and mentor young artists, working to revive the arts in his home city.
Q: What defines Ali Sajid’s artistic style?
A: His vibrant watercolours that capture the vanishing heritage of Peshawar, blending academic rigor with a profound vision for cultural revival. He treats the canvas as a repository of emotions, where historical architecture and modern society intersect, and aims to breathe life back into society through his brush.