Art Talk: Saks Afridi and Sadaf Padder

Saks Afridi’s "SpaceMosque" fuses Islamic mysticism and technology, investigating intersections of capitalism and spirituality, historical record and futuristic imagination, and the physical and emotional limits of materiality. In this online conversation, Afridi and curator Sadaf Padder discuss the exhibition, Afridi’s first solo museum presentation in the United States.
Born in Pakistan and now based in New York City, Saks Afridi creates work in a genre he terms “Sci-Fi Sufism,” which is about “discovering galaxies and worlds within yourself.” He makes art objects in multiple mediums and draws inspiration from Sufi poetry, South Asian folklore, Islamic mythology, science fiction, architecture, and calligraphy. Afridi studied advertising at the Academy of Art in San Francisco and later sculpture at the Art Students League of New York. He is a recipient of a D&AD Pencil Award, a One Show Pencil Award, and a United Nations Award for Peace and Understanding from the U.N. Department of Public Information. His work has been featured in Artforum and The New York Times and on the BBC, Al Jazeera, CNN, and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
Sadaf Padder is a Brooklyn-based independent curator, writer, and community organizer focused on excavating under-recognized contemporary art movements and histories related to the South Asian and Caribbean diaspora. She has curated across the country, from Philadelphia to Los Angeles to Martha’s Vineyard, focusing on themes of social justice, futurism, radical liberation movements, climate change, and neo-mythology to weave connections between various communities. Padder has contributed writing to Visual AIDS, Artsy, Up magazine, and Hyperallergic. She is a Create Change alumna with the Laundromat Project, a featured curator with Artsy, and a 2022-23 Emily J. Hall Tremaine Journalism Fellow though Hyperallergic.
"Saks Afridi: SpaceMosque" is on view at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center June 22 - October 19, 2024.
www.brattleboro...