Making a Mark: Ali Kazim
Ali Kazim
Ali Kazim: The contemporary artist on his intricate watercolours and prints and taking inspiration from the art and history of the Indian subcontinent
This episode of Making a Mark explores a new body of work by Lahore-based artist Ali Kazim (b. 1979), including the artist's first major body of etchings.
Kazim introduces Alphabets, 19 prints illustrating a different letter from the Urdu alphabet. From the gallery in London, the artist discusses his choice of imagery and the significance of different motifs such as the tiger, a hoopoe bird, pyjamas and the Koh-I-Noor diamond, each charting and illuminating the diverse and complex history of South Asia.
Kazim discusses a related series of watercolours, the medium he is best known for, and what inspires him, which includes Mughal miniature painting, the Bengal School’s watercolourists, and discovering collection displays at the Lahore Museum and the Ashmolean Museum in the UK.
Contributors include senior director David Cleaton-Roberts who discusses the exceptional techniques Kazim used to make the prints, and writer and curator, Hammad Nasar, who explains the subject matter in further detail. Presented by writer and critic, Charlotte Mullins.
Recorded in summer 2026.
Click here to find out more about the exhibition Ali Kazim: Alphabets (4 September - 3 October 2026)
Click here to discover Ali Kazim: Alphabet Book | Urdu Qaida, the artist's book, a collaboration between the artist and curator Hammad Nasar, written in both English and Urdu.
"Printmaking has its own language, its own way to build textures, tone, line and colour. I don't want it to mimic painting."
Ali Kazim
Ali Kazim: Alphabets
4 September – 3 October 2026
Ali Kazim's first solo exhibition at Cristea Roberts Gallery features new watercolours and the artist’s first major portfolio of prints.
New watercolours depicting solitary figures and circus acts are exhibited together with a series of new etchings, each work illustrating a different letter from the Urdu alphabet.
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Images. Ali Kazim working on his Alphabet prints at Simon Lawson Prints in London, 2025.
Courtesy artist and Cristea Roberts Gallery, London. Photo: Darrell Tuffs.
Video 1. Inking a plate from Alphabets at Simon Lawson Prints, London, 2026
Courtesy artist and Cristea Roberts Gallery, London. Video: Darrell Tuffs
Video 2. Ali Kazim painting Untitled (Woman of Faith series) in his studio in Lahore, Pakistan, 2025.
Courtesy artist and Cristea Roberts Gallery, London © Ali Kazim