Sha Sarwari

Sha Sarwari is a multidisciplinary Afghanistan-born visual artist who has lived in Australia since 2000. His work combines material investigation and form, in which he embeds multiple layers of meaning with the intent to create visually poetic encounters. His work speaks of his lived experience of existing between two worlds, longing and belonging, and references current political discourse around migration, identity, place, memory and nationhood.

 In his recent works, Sarwari draws from the visual aesthetic of Farsi scrip in particular Nastaliq, one of the main calligraphic hands used in writing the Farsi alphabets. He holds a diploma of Graphic Design from TAFE (2005), a Bachelor of Fine Art from the Queensland College of Arts, Griffith University (2015), and an Honours degree in Visual Arts from Victoria College of Arts (VCA), Melbourne University (2018).

 Sarwari is the recipient of the 2020 Incinerator Art Award: Arts for Social Change. In 2015 he was awarded High Commendation at The Churchie National Emerging Art Prize; and he was also the recipient of the inaugural 2016 Home Art Prize, The Walker Street Gallery & Arts Centre. In 2017 he was awarded Most Critically Engaged Work at CCP Salon, Australian Centre for Photography. Most recently, he was awarded the 2018 Fiona Myer Award for excellence at VCA, Melbourne University; and was a finalist in the Blacktown Art Prize.

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