Feroza Hakeem: Where the River Bends, I Begin Again

New Delhi, September 2026, Pristine Contemporary presents Where the River Bends, I
Begin Again by Feroza Hakeem, opening on 23rd September 2026 and on view until
23rd October 2026. The exhibition brings together a new body of contemporary miniature
paintings that explore dialogues of resilience, precision, hope, and abundance.
In Where the River Bends, I Begin Again, Hakeem’s practice emerges from deeply personal
histories of violence. Born into the Hazara community, her paintings rarely dwell on
destruction itself. While they do not deny violence, they refuse to grant it visual sovereignty.
Barren mountains are shown with flowers, dry valleys are threaded with blue streams, and
landscapes marked by fear are quietly reimagined through colour, care, and abundance.
درخت دوستی بنشان که کام دل به بار آرد
Plant the tree of love,
so that it may bear the fruit of your heart.
Exhibition Details: Where the River Bends, I Begin Again
Artists: Feroza Hakeem
On- View Dates: Thursday, 24
th September till Friday 23
rd October 2026
Preview: 5:30PM – 9:00PM, Wednesday, 23
rd September 2026
Venue: Gallery Pristine Contemporary, Saini Bhawan, New Delhi
Gallery Timings: 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM | Monday to Saturday

The exhibition is curated by Khushboo Jain, an independent curator native of Jaipur,
India, with a focus on contemporary miniature painting. Her exhibitions operate as critical
platforms to examine politics, socio-economic landscapes, and the translation of Indian
visual traditions into contemporary discourse.
In collaboration with Pristine Contemporary, Khushboo plans to present a visual experience
in which artworks, staged upon pedestals, invite viewers to dwell on how art can become a
site of renewal in the aftermath of violence.

Can painting imagine futures before politics makes them possible? Can beauty become an
act of repair rather than escape? Can landscapes carry not only memory, but the possibility
of another beginning?

About Feroza Hakeem:
Feroza Hakeem (born in 1995; lives and works in Quetta, Pakistan) draws inspiration from
the familiar landscapes surrounding the Hazāra neighborhoods of Quetta, her hometown.
Hilly slopes and natural elements featured in her works take on a metaphorical dimension,
evoking experiences of violence, inherited grief, and the resilience passed down within the
Pakistani Hazāra community.
Coming from a family of Hazara community and having the first- hand experience of
oppression she allows her grief to transform into these strange landscapes of her
surroundings where the beautiful mountains represent her home, an apricot tree may
represent a woman (in Persian tradition) and a cedar tree a protective man. Her works yet
show her resilience and hope for a better future.
Feroza, A graduate of the National College of Arts, Lahore, with a semester at Italy’s Sienna
Art Institute, has built an international exhibition history since 2017, when her work first
appeared in the “Belt and Road” show at Suzhou University Museum, China. She has held
two solo exhibitions with Numaishgah: Air Turns Breathless (2023) and My Loved Ones
(2024), the latter following her 2023 Art Saraye Artist Grant. Her group shows span Pakistan
(O Art Space, Muse Art Gallery, Satrang Art Gallery, Full Circle Gallery, Artscape Gallery) and
institutions including the World Bank and the Swiss and French Embassies in Islamabad,
alongside international presentations at the Lahore Biennale, Muscat Art Fair, and exhibitions
in London and Delhi. Most recently, she completed a residency at Latitudes Contemporaines,
Lille, and showed at Asia Now Paris (October 2025), following a three-person show at O Art
Space, Lahore (Composed Realities, May 2025). Her practice has also extended into cultural
preservation, including work with the Faiz Foundation Trust on Hazara heritage in 2024.
About Khushboo Jain:
Khushboo Jain, a native of Jaipur, India, is an independent art curator with a focused
engagement in contemporary miniature practices and a deep-rooted interest in history, art,
and the decolonisation of artistic narratives. In addition to her curatorial pursuits, Khushboo
is a writer and researcher, delving into subjects ranging from art, culture, design and food
history. Drawing on her diverse experiences, including a background trading in gemstones,
Khushboo cultivates a comprehensive sensibility that enhances her curatorial vision.
Since 2023, Khushboo Jain has curated group exhibitions across Art Basel Hong Kong, New
Delhi, and Mumbai, tracing the evolving language of miniature painting. Highlights include
Off Margins and Musawwari: Miniatures Today at Ojas Art, and Land That Lives Through Us
at Art & Charlie, Mumbai. Her 2025–26 shows, Masnavi: Lores Across Lands and
Evolution/Involution, explore cross-generational dialogue through a meditative visual
vocabulary, while her latest, The World Ends at the Proscenium (2026), reads contemporary
geopolitics through the lens of theatre.

About Pristine Contemporary:
Pristine Contemporary was founded in New Delhi in 2024 by collectors Arjun Butani and
Arjun Sawhney as a platform dedicated to rigorous contemporary artistic practice across
South Asia and beyond. Working with emerging and mid-career artists, the gallery supports
practices that engage critically with the cultural, social, and material conditions of the
present, alongside a sustained commitment to each artist’s long-term career development.
Beyond its commercial role, Pristine Contemporary acts as an active interlocutor in the
cultural landscape, offering curatorial collaboration, mentorship, institutional advocacy, and
strategic placement within major private and public collections, working closely with
curators, museums, residencies, foundations, and academic institutions.
Located in Kotla, Defence Colony, the gallery occupies a former timber mill, its soaring
ceilings and exposed concrete beams lending a restrained architectural character suited to
contemplation and dialogue with the work on view.
The gallery’s programme spans artists from across South Asia and beyond, including Varad
Bang, Ayuesh Agarwal, Kumari Nahappan, Saskia Pintelon, and Feroza Hakeem, among
others. Through exhibitions, publications, and participation in leading fairs such as Art
Mumbai and India Art Fair, Pristine Contemporary contributes to the expanding discourse on
contemporary art in the region while building an increasingly international programme.

For further details, interviews, or press inquiries, please contact info@gallerypristine.com
Address: Pristine Contemporary C-3 A 178 Bhisham Pitamah Marg, Kotla Main Road,
Opposite Defence Colony, Ground Floor, New Delhi- 110003
Website: www.gallerypristine.com IG: @pristinecontemporary