Shafique Farooqi

Artist Statement

Prof. Dr. MUHAMMAD SHAFIQUE FAROOQI

Pride of Performance

Shafique Farooqi was born in 1942 in Sialkot, Pakistant. After his training at the National College of Arts, he went over to Turkey and completed his his h Master’s degree at Istanbul University. Later on he was bequeathed an honorary doctorate in Spiritual Arts from Royal American University in Spiritual Arts.

In the 60 years of his art career he has done more than 13,000 art pieces and 107 solo shows in USA, England, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Germany, Sudan, France, Canada, Holland, Turkey and Pakistan. He has mastered the arts of Free hand Sketches Calligraphy, Landscape, Watercolor, Etching, Symbolic Art, Ceramics, Symbiosis concept of art (Journey of Line), and Spiritual art (Whirling Dervishes). Recognizing his contributions to the field of arts, the government of Pakistan conferred on him the  President’s Pride of Performance, in 2021.

Among his passions, earlier in his career, Farooqi had taken up calligraphy, in which his emphasis was Arabic alphabet.

Invoking Rumi, Shafique Farooqi’s Whirling Dervishes transports the viewer to a spiritual realm in an ecstasy of colour. His images swirl and melt into the heavens above joining mind, heart, and body as they seek oneness with God. Having spent a significant part of his life in Turkey, Farooqi’s art has been deeply inspired by Sufism. His recent endeavor is his book on art and mysticism “The Tale of Drunken Flute in Whirling Dervishes”.

Mr. Shafique Farooqi fascination with Calligraphic art over 60 years, His artistic journey simultaneously Travers twin paths, virtuosity and wisdom Mr. Farooqi has published his 6th book “ لا الہ الا اللہ” and  working on his 7th book  “محمد رسول اللہ” which his Knife and hand truly reflects Calligraphy as seen

In Shafique Farooqi’s landscape paintings, there is always a central object, perhaps a tree that has attracted the artist’s full attention. He has treated it in the spirit of a portrait, and has generally succeeded in revealing the whole atmosphere of the landscape in reference to the single tree.

Symbolism is an art movement in response to Realism and Impressionism. Mr. Shafique Farooqi used Symbolism to express meaning in an indirect manner. He wanted their painting to depict a meaning beyond just the figures they drew.

Mr. Shafique Farooqi spent almost 17 Years of his life in Turkey from 1983 to 1999 and honorably represented Pakistan at all levels.  He received 5 prestigious awards during his stay in Turkey. He taught Islamic Calligraphy and Landscape of Pakistan to hundreds of students. In Turkey, he creates the concept his work is influenced by Sufi mysticism. In his this series of paintings, he uses the whirling dervish “SEMA” of the Mevlevi order as his inspiration. During his stay in Turkey he also create a new concept in the field of art “Symbiosis concept of art (Journey of Line)”

During his stay in turkey He worked as an Advisor in Floyra Istanbul center for Rehabilitation of Disable children and made it model center in Turkey with help of Lion club and foreign funding. Further his paintings on disabled persons have won him honor and distinction in Turkey, England and Germany, and Holland have been prized most for his compassion for the retarded and handicapped children.

Mr. Shafique Farooqi’s 260 painting has commissioned in USA, England, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Germany, Sudan, France, Canada, Holland, Turkey and Pakistan.

Mr. Shafique Farooqi donated 10 Master Pieces for Diamer bhasha dam.  These were sold and the proceeds were presented as contribution towards the dam funds.

Mr. Shafique Farooq received 29 National and international Awards and 14 honors in the field of art and also received (President’s Pride of performance award)

Mr. Shafique Farooqi Published 7 books book in field of art.

Mr. Shafique Farooqi now a days  working on his series “Journey of line” in which he will endeavor to project the thoughts/vision of Allama  Iqbal through his art.

As an artist he has succeeded in bringing anguish in the soul to his art of painting. Though trained on the conventional lines, He has evolved his own vision of creative consciousness and has completed a work which affirms his originality and commitment for beauty which lies hidden in the visual scenes, and which has been released only by him. His paintings have given something creative to his age, and in this lies his own fulfillment and satisfaction as an artist.

Artist Statement.

“My paintings are formed out of my impressions, observations and my emotional experiences I see reality as an endless process of conflicts and decisions, therefore the tonality of experience can never be resolved in a definite way. The texture of life is like the surface of a block of clay; it is shaped and molded by the circumstances of daily conflicts, personal and collective catastrophes and individual questioning. My work lives on this quest until it becomes a rite of realizations, a struggle for the possibility to order the sensation of consciousness”.

Muhammad Shafique Farooqi