Fatima Zahra Hassan is a visual artist, educator, and researcher trained in Indian, Mughal, and Persian miniature painting. She specializes in Asian and Middle Eastern manuscript painting and Arts of the Book. Zahra’s contributions towards elevating the applied arts of the Islamic world make her an artist and educator of exceptional abilities. 

 

Zahra was educated at the National College of Art (NCA) in Lahore, the oldest art school in Pakistan and the second oldest in South Asia. She received her MA with distinction from the Royal College of Art (RCA) in London and went on to study at The Prince’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts in London where she obtained a Ph.D. in Visual Islamic and Traditional Arts (VITA). 

 

Zahra has taught extensively since 1994. She has presented workshops in the U.K at venues including the Victoria & Albert Museum, The British Museum, Asia House, and The Globe-Shakespeare Theatre. Internationally, she teaches at the College of Fine Arts & Design at the University of Sharjah, UAE, and is a visiting scholar and artist at universities in the U.K. and Pakistan. Zahra also remains actively engaged in post-graduate teaching at The Prince’s Foundation School where she has introduced new courses in the Visual Islamic and Traditional Arts (VITA) program.

In 2010, Zahra founded the School of Miniature Painting (SOMP) to create access to the traditional arts. At SOMP anyone interested can learn how to draw and paint in the various painting styles of the Islamic world and apply them to their contemporary contexts.

 

Zahra continues her research most notably as a contributing artist at the University of Cambridge Shahnama Project. Her interests include Middle Eastern and South Asian Manuscript Illustration/Art of the Book, knowledge transfer through the Silk Route, and Drawing and Denotation Systems and Mathematical Proportions in Islamic Art. 

Zahra is currently developing new ideas in art and technology including trans-media storytelling. Zahra lives with her family in London and works in both London and Lahore.