Khadim Ali

Khadim Ali is an artist of Afghan origin based in Sydney. Rich in traditional and modern motifs of Eastern and Western art-historical references, Ali’s works tell stories about loss (of his own cultural heritage and of human values) and about how meaning shifts as words and images are twisted through ideological adoption. His work traces the history of his ethnicity and other minorities who have been subjected to discrimination, persecution and ethnic cleansing. After being offered a distinguished talent visa by the Australian Government, Khadim Ali moved to Sydney in 2010. Perpetual migrations accompanied by loss and trauma contribute to the potency of his images. Ali’s delicate use of colour and detail is evidence of his deep connection to the miniature tradition and tapestry. Taking from the pages of Shahnameh he traces the nature of friends and foes, self and others, and the victor and victim. He learnt his craft as a young man when many Afghan refugees were making carpets to earn their living during the Afghan war. Khadim Ali’s current body of work reflects his many concerns and demonstrates a deft way of combining mediums and concepts. The artist’s deepening anxieties about events in the regions he still calls home, both Pakistan and Afghanistan, reflect his responsibility for his role as an artist.

Khadim Ali completed his BFA from the National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan (2003), where he studied traditional miniature painting and completed his MFA from the College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales (2012). His recent participations include Bukhara Biennial, Bukhara, Uzbekistan (2025); Art Dubai with LATITUDE 28, Dubai (2025, 2024, 2023); Delhi Contemporary Art Week with LATITUDE 28, Bikaner House, New Delhi, (2024, 2023, 2022, 2021); India Art Fair with LATITUDE 28, New Delhi (2022, 2019); ‘Residues & Resonance’ with LATITUDE 28, Artissima (Hub India) curated by Myna Mukherjee and Davide Quadrio, MAO (Museo d’Arte Orientale, Italy) (2021); ‘Voice Against Reason’, Museum MACAN (Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nusantara), Jakarta, Indonesia (2023); ‘Present Nature’, Alma Löv Museum of Unexpected Art, Östra Ämtervik, Sweden (2023); ‘There Is No Other Home But This’, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Zealand (2022); ‘Between the sun and moon’, Lahore Biennale, Lahore, Pakistan (2020); ‘Antipodean Stories’, PadiglioneD’Arte Contemporanea Milano, Milan (2019); ‘gohyang: home’, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea (2019); Sharjah Biennial 14 (2019); ‘Leaving the Echo Chamber’, Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, UAE (2018); ‘Babur Ki Gai’, LATITUDE 28, New Delhi (2018); ‘Dissensus’, LATITUDE 28, New Delhi (2017); Biennale de Lyon, Rendez-vous, Musée d’art contemporain de Lyon (2017); Documenta 2013, Kassel, Germany (2013); the presentation ‘No Country: Contemporary Art for South East Asia’, Guggenheim, New York, USA (2013); 53rd Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy (2009). His solo exhibitions include ‘Forlorn Foe’, LATITUDE 28, New Delhi (2016); ‘Invisible Border’, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane (2021); ‘What Now My Friend’, New York, USA (2020), ‘Transition/Evacuation’, ARNDT, Singapore (2015); ‘The Haunted Lotus’, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia (2014); ‘The Haunted Lotus’, Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre, Hong Kong and Milani Gallery, Brisbane, Australia (2013), among others. 

Ali’s work is held in numerous public collections, including: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; British Museum, London; Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan; Foreign Office, Islamabad; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Queensland Art Gallery |Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane.