“My paintings are a kind of protest because I don’t exhibit my paintings in galleries.”- Uzma Nawchoo.

Uzma is an artist and activist, born in Kashmir and did her Bachelor in apparel design and visual art from Kashmir University. She was inspired by the work of her great-grandfather, Abdul Gani Nawchoo who was a well-known calligrapher of Kashmir.

“If you look at the paintings you can see the faces of these women they have gone through trauma, they have gone through mental agony, that’s what I am trying to depict from these paintings. I prefer showcasing at open venues and locations where a lot of people walk in and get to see my art because the paintings I create are not meant for beautiful elite walls rather they carry a message that needs to be propagated to as many people as possible neither do I prefer getting them framed and choked!”.

Since 40 years the local Kashmiris are trapped between the governments of 2 countries. Women have suffered immensely as the conflict in the region continues. There are around 1,500 ‘half widows’ who remain unaware of the whereabouts of their husbands. “Not many people bother about what is happening in the outskirts of Kashmir. “, said Uzma.

“I am exhibiting these since 2014 and yes people do understand my work. Not only women from Kashmir, I mean be it in Kashmir, be it in Syria, be it in Pakistan, be it in India, women who are wives of the army, everyone is suffering, everybody is going through trauma. That’s why we say no to hate. That’s why we say no to war.”

This is a series of paintings called, ‘The women of war’ done by Uzma which shows women of Kashmir who suffer from mental and physical trauma due to war like conditions. Their faces look like alien faces and the expressions are distorted.