National awardee in students Kochi Biennale Aasif Haneef is a promising artist of the valley. He has participated in various state as well as national art residencies and workshops. With Bachelors degree in Visual Arts Aasif has not restricted himself to a particular subject or medium of art. His art works range from drawings and paintings to installations and site specific art projects. When asked about his views on the art scene in Kashmir he said in a statement, “In this unstoppable race, Kashmir Valley also produces various visual artists who are making their presence felt side by side with their national and international contemporaries through visuals. In this valley, the selectors are striving to establish the right center, ‘keeping in view the traditional concepts and their modern design’, where they can work together based on discovery and re-examine those visuals in proper way which were left in history and are buried in artificial envelopes today. As for the question of how the visual Artists here put their ideas into practice, their status is like that of clay kneaders, who are knowledgeable and familiar with the mapping and processing of clay and then their successful endeavors are presented in unknown closed rooms outside the valley in other cases, which is unbearable”.
Adding that, “The Artists in Kashmir Valley, as always have been performing in troubled situations and increasing their mediums of expression day by day. This has been noteworthy in every era and is still noteworthy today, because there is no institution here other than the Faculty of Fine Arts that can confirm this. For the past several years, the expert visual Artists here have been working hard to come together to build a unique path and to identify different fields under the flag of visual arts and it has started to happen ”for that, visual artists are in dire need of discussion and practice in the post-professional framework.
It is the hard work and greatness of our capable visual Artists who are doing their job extensively, ignoring all the random and meaningless elements.”
Alongside with painting Aasif is also known for his poetry and amazing writing skills. He lives and works in Handwara (a town in district Kupwara) he can be reached at aasifhaneef50@gmail.com
