Female Sufi painter from J-K inspires people to use art as therapy
Sep 10, 2020
Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], September 10 : Badr-un-Nissa Bhat, a 20-year-old student from Srinagar is an inspiration for all.
Under the influence of Sufi traditions, Badr began paintings at a very young age. She not only sketches whirling dervishes but also focuses on Sufi women who are less talked about in contemporary Sufi art.
"At first, my mother used to help. Then in the 5th standard, I learnt the basics from a brilliant teacher till the 10th standard. After that, I did a workshop with an Australian lady. She used to teach me art therapy which helped me relax my mind and also, how to portray my ideologies," she said.
Talking about her journey as a Sufi painter, she said, "I got inspired by the stories of prophets that were told. From the 8th standard, I started studying Sufi tradition. There are some many Sufis in our culture that we can study. I started with Mevlana Rumi's Whirling Dervishes."
Badr said that she expresses her mind through abstraction. "Usually an artist paints a landscape or portraits. I create paintings that almighty has already created. Through abstraction, I present my mind to the people. I want to share the Sufi perspective with the world."
She shared that she loves to make Sufi paintings because the Sufi saints always preached peace and harmony.
"All my paintings and poems are just a search for something from beyond. This search describes me. Also, I love and know beautiful languages like Arabic and Persian," she added.
Further talking about painting as a means of expression, she said that "colours are more expressive than words."
