Irum Rahat

B. 1996, Lahore

'My paintings explore the poetics of the everyday, tracing the intersections of reality, memory, personal and cultural identity, and archival history. By revisiting and reconstructing the familiar, I reimagine overlooked histories and unseen narratives, particularly through constructs of the feminine, experiential, and spatial. Painting becomes both a form of inquiry and reflection, where memory blurs the boundaries between the significant and the inconsequential, situating personal experience within a broader cultural and emotional landscape.'

Born in Lahore, Pakistan, in 1996, Irum Rahat is a contemporary artist whose practice explores memory, identity, everyday experience, and the spaces between personal and cultural histories. She received her BFA in Painting from the National College of Arts, Lahore, in 2019, followed by an MA in Fine Art with Distinction from Central Saint Martins, London, in 2023.

Rahat’s work has been presented in exhibitions in Pakistan and internationally, including (Un)done at Hypha Studios, London (2023), and Transparent Ritual at Lethaby Gallery, London (2023). Her publication I Drew was also featured at Offprint, Tate Modern, London, in 2023. In Pakistan, she has participated in group exhibitions including What Lies Within at Full Circle (2021) and VM Emerging Talent (2020), as well as exhibitions at venues such as Alhamra Arts Council and the Shakir Ali Museum in Lahore.

Through painting and publishing, Rahat continues to examine the relationship between memory, lived experience, and broader cultural narratives.