A new exhibition at Impressions Gallery tells the story of Maryam Wahid’s remarkable journey to discover her Pakistani identity while visiting her mother’s childhood home for the first time.
Saturday 8 April to Saturday 1 July 2023
Open Tuesday to Saturday, free entry
“I am completely different now. I lived in Pakistan between 1962-1982, I feel I can’t live there anymore because the atmosphere of the place and people have changed so much. Pakistan will always be in my heart because it is the country I was born in, where my parents were born and where my parents rest in peace. But the UK, this is where I live, this is where my husband is from and it is where my children were born.”
Nargis Wahid, formerly known as, Zaibunnisa
Zaibunnisa, an Urdu word meaning ‘the beauty of women’ refers to Maryam Wahid’s Mother’s birth name prior to emigrating from Pakistan to the UK in 1982 for an arranged marriage. The photographs tell the story of Wahid and her mother’s journey to Lahore in 2019; Wahid’s first- ever visit to Pakistan and her mother’s first visit in 20 years.
Maryam Wahid, Zaibunnisa, A Midlands Arts Centre Touring Exhibition. Courtesy the artist and Midlands Arts Centre © Maryam Wahid.
The artist documented their time spent together during this journey of discovery as her mother reconnected with old friends and family. They spent time exploring her family home, where Wahid reimagined what her life could have been, had she grown up in this house Wahid felt a deep, spiritual connection to the building and particularly to her maternal family whom she had never met.
The work addresses themes of loss, memory, displacement, identity and migration whilst importantly counterbalancing a celebratory future and the positive married life that the artist’s parents made for themselves in Birmingham.
A Midlands Arts Centre touring exhibition. The exhibition is supported by Arts Council England, British Council, Eversheds Sutherland, Geoff Sims Bursary, PATRIZIA, Players of the Postcode Lottery, The Roughley Trust and Transforming Narratives.
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Credits
A Midlands Arts Centre touring exhibition. The exhibition is supported by Arts Council England, British Council, Eversheds Sutherland, Geoff Sims Bursary, PATRIZIA, Players of the Postcode Lottery, The Roughley Trust and Transforming Narratives.
Publication
A fully illustrated catalogue accompanies the exhibition, featuring a selection of images and accompanying text by Maryam Wahid. Available to buy for £10 from Impressions Gallery bookshop from 8 April 2023.