Sufi Painter From Srinagar Badr-un-Nissa Bhat Inspires People To Use Art As Therapy

Badr-un-Nissa Bhat is a 20-year-old young Sufi painter from Srinagar who is inspiring people through her paintings.

"At first my mother used to help. Then in the 5th standard, I learnt the basics from a brilliant teacher till the 10th standard. After that, I did a workshop with an Australian lady." Bhat told ANI, "She used to teach me art therapy which helped me relax my mind and also, how to portray my ideologies."

Bhat shared that she loves to make Sufi paintings because Sufi saints taught about harmony and peace. According to her, "All my paintings and poems are just a search for something from beyond. This search describes me." Under the influence of Sufi traditions, Badr-un-Nissa began painting at a very young age. She sketches whirling dervishes and also centres her painting around Sufi women who are less talked about in the contemporary Sufi art.

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What You Should Know

• Badr-un-Nissa Bhat is inspiring people in J&K through her art.
• She sketches Sufi women who are less talked about in contemporary Sufi art.

Reflecting upon her journey as a Sufi painter, Badr-un-Nissa said, "I got inspired by the stories of prophets that were told. From the 8th standard, I started studying Sufi tradition. There are some many Sufis in our culture that we can study." She started with Mevlana Rumi's Whirling Dervishes.

The Sufi artist says that she expresses her mind through abstraction. She believes in creating paintings that the "almighty has already created." She says that through abstraction, she presents her mind to the people. Badr wants to share the Sufi perspective with the world.

She revealed that she loves and knows beautiful languages like Arabic and Persian and also said that "colours are more expressive than words."

Sufi artists have time and again made important contributions to Islamic art and culture as builders, patrons, and poets.

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Picture Credit: ANI

Sanskriti Tiwari is an intern with SheThePeople.TV