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Shehzil Malik

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Shehzil Malik
Born1987 (age 38–39)
Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Alma materRochester Institute of Technology (MFA, 2014)
Occupations
  • Illustrator
  • graphic designer
  • artist
Years active2014–present
Websitewww.shehzil.com

Shehzil Malik (born 1987) is a Pakistani illustrator, graphic designer and artist whose work focuses on feminism, gender-based violence and representations of South Asian women. Her digital illustrations and street art, much of it produced in her native Lahore, have been the subject of international press coverage and have circulated widely on social media; she has also designed posters for several editions of the Aurat March in Pakistan.[1]

Early life and education

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Malik was born in Lahore in 1987.[2] She has spoken in interviews about being made aware in childhood of the colourism prevalent in Pakistani society, including episodes in which a relative attempted to lighten her skin with pumice and lemon juice, an experience that she has since cited as a formative influence on her later "Brown Is Beautiful" series.[1][3]

She studied visual communication design at the Rochester Institute of Technology in the United States as a Fulbright scholar, graduating with an MFA in 2014.[4][5]

Career

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After completing her studies, Malik returned to Lahore and worked as an art director at Ogilvy & Mather.[4] She has taught at Beaconhouse National University.[citation needed] Between 2021 and 2023 she held a fellowship at the Graduate School of the Universität der Künste Berlin, and she has been based in Berlin subsequently.[4][6]

Feminist illustration and "Women in Public Spaces"

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Malik's work first attracted broad attention in Pakistan and abroad through her series Women in Public Spaces, which depicted street harassment and the constraints placed on women's movement in urban Pakistan. The series circulated under the hashtag #WomenInPublicSpaces and was widely shared on social media.[1] Her subsequent Brown Is Beautiful series engaged with colourism and skin-lightening practices, while her Hijabi Biker image, depicting a veiled young woman riding a motorbike, was reproduced as an 11-foot mural on a wall in Lahore.[7]

Aurat March posters

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Malik has produced posters and visual materials for several editions of the Aurat March, the annual Pakistani International Women's Day march. For the Aurat March in 2019 she created the series My Body, My Choice, addressing themes including rape, female genital mutilation and maternal mortality;[8] she has stated that posters she pasted in Lahore in advance of the march were torn down within hours.[9] For the 2020 march she issued an open call inviting women and transgender artists across Pakistan to contribute artwork, and she designed posters for the 2021 and 2022 marches.[2]

Fashion collaboration with Generation

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In 2017, Malik collaborated with the Pakistani retailer Generation on a capsule collection of clothing that incorporated her illustrations alongside text in Urdu and English, including phrases such as nidar (fearless) and taqatwar (strong) and quotations from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's We Should All Be Feminists.[1][10]

Books and other projects

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Malik wrote and illustrated the picture book The Biker Girls, her debut as an author–illustrator.[4] She illustrated the picture-book biography A Girl Called Genghis Khan (Sterling Children's Books) by Michelle Lord, based on the life of the Pakistani squash player Maria Toorpakai Wazir.[11] She has also collaborated with the writers Reem Faruqi and Aisha Saeed,[citation needed] and edited Bystander Anthology, a volume of comic and graphic narratives bringing together approximately 50 South Asian contributors on themes of geography, gender and identity.[4]

Recognition

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Malik was a contributing artist and panellist at the 2019 Oslo Freedom Forum.[2] She has been the subject of profile coverage in CNN,[1] Deutsche Welle,[12] Vice, Paper and other international publications. She received the UN Women Yvonne M.T. Herbert award in recognition of her work on gender equality in South Asian societies.[citation needed]

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References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Hemery, Sophie (22 January 2018). "Pakistani designer ignites debate with powerful feminist graphics". cnn.com. CNN. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 "Shehzil Malik". Artbreath. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  3. ↑ Rukia, Yasmine (27 March 2017). "Meet the Pakistani illustrator putting representation at the forefront of her art". Paper. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "About". Shehzil Malik. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  5. ↑ "Alumna creates feminist art and clothing line". Rochester Institute of Technology. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  6. ↑ "Shehzil Malik – Graduate School fellow". Universität der Künste Berlin. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  7. ↑ Mirza, Farhad. "Illustrator Shehzil Malik's take on feminism and diversity". Qantara. Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  8. ↑ Pundir, Pallavi (8 March 2019). "This artist is making a lot of men angry in Pakistan". Vice. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  9. ↑ "The art of Shehzil Malik". American Pakistan Foundation. 27 September 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  10. ↑ Rehman, Maliha (5 October 2017). "Generation celebrates feminism again, this time with illustrator Shehzil Malik". Dawn Images. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  11. ↑ "Shehzil Malik". Artbreath. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  12. ↑ "A Pakistani illustrator's take on feminism and diversity". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
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