Abdal Mufti

digital artist and storyteller from Rawalpindi

Compiled from 1 recorded interview. Every statement below is drawn from the passage cited beside it.

Abdal Mufti is a digital artist and storyteller born and raised in Rawalpindi. He studied business management at NUST and has worked in education since. His narrative-based work addresses social issues.

Early life and background

Mufti was born and raised in Rawalpindi and grew up in a middle-class household. He says he was poor at drawing as a child and that art was not part of his life through school. [1]

He says he often felt he was not accepted. He also says he was unhappy because he had not found his identity, and that he was made to feel he was a bad student, though he was never one. [1]

He attended a school up to fifth grade. He then attended a well-known school in Rawalpindi and completed matriculation. After that he went to college. [1]

Education

Mufti studied business management at NUST from 2010 to 2014, choosing it over engineering. He could not attend NCA. He was advised never to go to art school and was warned that it would institutionalise him. [1]

He studied art theory and colour theory on his own and taught himself Photoshop through trial and error. He says he could not learn painting from YouTube. [1]

Early artwork

Mufti made his first art piece in late 2011. His aunt was the only painter in his family. He says canvas was expensive, and that drawing at a large scale developed his proportions. He made some art pieces over three months, and says he burned many of his early paintings. [1]

Career

After university, Mufti aimed to find work outside Islamabad. He was on the waiting list for a Proctor and Gamble role, and someone else got it. He received the first job offer in his batch. [1]

He trained in Karachi and was then placed in a school in Lahore. He spent a year and a half at the school. He says the teaching placement was the most profound experience of his life. [1]

He moved from teacher to assistant manager, and then managed a project across two provinces. The project enrolled out-of-school children in schools. He moved to Karachi and travelled across Sindh and Balochistan. [1]

Mufti worked as creative head at an agency for eight months. He moved back to Islamabad temporarily because an incident was so heavy that he needed to ground himself. [1]

He says he has worked in education ever since and that his education work has reached policy level. He says education is the tool through which anyone can excel in life. [1]

Art and storytelling

He bought a tablet so he could keep painting while travelling, and his first digital works were portraits. He began adding music and short animations to his paintings. He says he began sharing his work on Instagram around 2016. [1]

He says he creates something every day. He began addressing social issues through his art, and says he kept making work for himself even after his audience grew. He says he no longer makes physical paintings. [1]

Mufti opened a studio in Lahore but had to move, and has no studio now. He plans to do art full time if he leaves education work. [1]

Views on art

Mufti says art needs to be more approachable and democratised, and that his work does what he wanted it to do, which is to democratise art. He says a digital story can be seen by about 1.5 lakh people. He says physical art has a beauty of its own that cannot be replaced. [1]

He says he does not like the word content for his work, and calls it art. He shares finished work but not his painting process. He says art is made for people, so artists should understand their audiences, and that art will move forward when people come and disrupt. [1]

Response to a painting

Mufti says his painting about the incident aimed to capture its soul, not the incident itself. He says the painting was meant to show the incident was as bad as it gets. He says he made the painting in one day and then spent two days deciding whether to share it. [1]

Views on discourse

Mufti says every ideology comes from an individual with a certain experience, and that people are not simply right or wrong. He says discourse matters because people who disagree can still learn from each other. He asks critics to understand a person's work before criticising it. [1]

He says society has become socially amnesiac, and that reactions to incidents rarely bring real change. He says a reactionary culture stops society from having real discourse, and that a society's threshold for shocking incidents keeps rising. [1]

He says words have immense power. He says criticism is a right, but threats to kill are not. He says social media's word limits make real discourse hard. [1]

Personal life

Mufti says he has had depression for a long time and is open about it. He says art became the thing he held on to at a low point in his life. [1]

Timeline

2010
Began studying business management at NUST.[1]
2011
Made his first art piece, late in the year.[1]
2016
Began sharing his work on Instagram, around this year.[1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2021-11-08 Why an artist with a national audience has no right to emotion Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Who is Abdal Mufti?

Abdal Mufti is a digital artist and storyteller born and raised in Rawalpindi. He describes his work as narrative-based storytelling that addresses social issues. He studied business management at NUST and has worked in education since.[1]

What does Abdal Mufti do?

Abdal Mufti makes narrative-based storytelling and digital art that addresses social issues. He says his stories focus on small streets and people whom mass media will not pick up. He has also worked in education and has painted murals.[1]

Where did Abdal Mufti study?

Abdal Mufti studied business management at NUST from 2010 to 2014. He was advised never to go to art school, and studied art theory and colour theory on his own. He also taught himself Photoshop through trial and error.[1]

Where is Abdal Mufti from?

Abdal Mufti was born and raised in Rawalpindi. He grew up in a middle-class household.[1]

What did Abdal Mufti do after university?

After university, Abdal Mufti aimed to find work outside Islamabad. He trained in Karachi and was placed in a school in Lahore. He later moved from teacher to assistant manager and managed a project across two provinces.[1]

Does Abdal Mufti still make physical paintings?

Abdal Mufti says he no longer makes physical paintings. He bought a tablet so he could keep painting while travelling, and his first digital works were portraits.[1]

When did Abdal Mufti start sharing his art online?

Abdal Mufti says he began sharing his work on Instagram around 2016. He made his first art piece in late 2011.[1]

References

  1. Why an artist with a national audience has no right to emotion . Thought Behind Things , 2021-11-08.
Show the source passages (82 statements)
  1. He was born and raised in Rawalpindi. I was born and bred in Rawalpindi, got all my education here
  2. He says he was poor at drawing as a child. I was so bad at drawing.
  3. He attended a school up to fifth grade. Toh woh Saint Helen school tha, wahan se maine panchvi tak padha.
  4. He then attended a well-known school in Rawalpindi. Phir uske baju mein hi school tha, Siddiq Public School, bada mashhoor hai Rawalpindi mein.
  5. He completed matriculation. wahan pe mashallah meri achi khasi unhone denting-venting karke mujhe unhone matric kara hi diya.
  6. He then went to college. Phir main Army Public College mein chala gaya.
  7. He grew up in a middle-class household. Although I grew up in a very middle class household, right?
  8. He says he often felt he was not accepted. I always felt ki yaar maybe I was not accepted.
  9. He says he was unhappy because he had not found his identity. I was not happy because my identity was I never found it.
  10. He says art was not part of his life through school. Matlab art was never around. Never.
  11. He says he was made to feel he was a bad student, though he was never one. I was never a bad student by the way. But I was made to feel that I was a bad student.
  12. He studied business management at NUST from 2010 to 2014. So, I studied from NUST, I did business management 2010 to 2014.
  13. He chose business management at NUST over engineering. so I went into business management aur main engineering mein nahi gaya.
  14. He could not attend NCA. Uh, NCA nahi ja sake because obviously art is a field mein paise
  15. He was advised never to go to art school. unhone kaha kabhi bhi art school na jana.
  16. He was warned that art school would institutionalise him. tum institutionalize ho jaoge art school.
  17. He studied art theory and colour theory on his own. maine art art theory padhi aur phir maine color theory padhi.
  18. He taught himself Photoshop through trial and error. and then I started doing Photoshop aur koi khud hi seekha woh hit and trial
  19. He says he could not learn painting from YouTube. I still am not someone jo YouTube se seekh sake.
  20. After university he aimed to find work outside Islamabad. mera ek aim tha ke ab maine Islamabad se bahar naukri dhoondni hai.
  21. He was on the waiting list for a Proctor and Gamble role, and someone else got it. Proctor and Gamble mein I was the last two but I was then on the waiting list, somebody else got it.
  22. He received the first job offer in his batch. that was the first job offer in my batch
  23. He trained in Karachi and was then placed in a school in Lahore. Maine train hua Karachi mein. Uske baad I was placed in a school in Lahore.
  24. He spent a year and a half at the school. Toh maine derh saal us school mein
  25. He says the teaching placement was the most profound experience of his life. the most profound experience of my life because aap parhate hain.
  26. He says education is the tool through which anyone can excel in life. if anybody can excel in life, it is through this tool that you call education.
  27. He says he has worked in education ever since. Uske baad se aaj tak I'm working in education.
  28. He says his education work has reached policy level. Toh main aaj tak taleem pe ab policy level tak pohanch gaye hain.
  29. He moved from teacher to assistant manager, and then managed a project across two provinces. teacher se phir project uh assistant manager aap keh lein, phir project manage kiya pooray do soobon mein.
  30. The project enrolled out-of-school children in schools. Uh toh hum ab us out of school children ko enroll kiya karte thay schools mein
  31. He moved to Karachi and travelled across Sindh and Balochistan. I moved to Karachi and then I moved to like traveled all over Sindh, Balochistan.
  32. He worked as creative head at an agency for eight months. I worked with a with an agency as a creative head for eight months
  33. He moved back to Islamabad temporarily because an incident was so heavy that he needed to ground himself. I moved back to Islamabad temporarily because woh incident was so heavy ke I needed to ground myself before I would move forward.
  34. He started painting murals. I started doing murals. Main murals karta tha.
  35. He says his stories focus on small streets and people whom mass media will not pick up. Chhoti galiyan, woh log jo mass media nahi uthayega.
  36. He bought a tablet so he could keep painting while travelling. Aur main consistently travel par hota tha. Toh maine ek tablet liya.
  37. His first digital works were portraits. Aur maine pehle digital portraits shuru kiye.
  38. He says he creates something every day. Toh I paint daily by the way.
  39. He opened a studio in Lahore but had to move, and has no studio now. Maine last year studio shuru kiya Lahore mein, then unfortunately I had to move, to mera abhi studio nahi hai.
  40. He plans to do art full time if he leaves education work. to main education ka agar kaam chhod dun to main full time karun
  41. He says he no longer makes physical paintings. So that's why I am I don't do a physical anymore
  42. He says a digital story can be seen by about 1.5 lakh people. to 1.5 lakh banda can view that story.
  43. He says art needs to be more approachable and democratised. Art needs to be more approachable. Right, essentially. It needs to be democratized.
  44. He says physical art has a beauty of its own that cannot be replaced. Woh uski khubsurti apni hai aur us ko koi khatam nahi kar sakta.
  45. He began adding music and short animations to his paintings. So, I did music. A very brief animation, animation mein usko kehta bhi nahi hun
  46. He says he no longer opens Instagram. I don't open Instagram anymore
  47. He says he has had depression for a long time and is open about it. So, and I've had depression for a very long time and I'm very open about it.
  48. He says art became the thing he held on to at a low point in his life. you find somebody or something to hold on to. Right. Right? And for me that somebody or something was art.
  49. He says he started writing stories as well as making art and music. I started writing stories as well
  50. He says his work does what he wanted it to do, which is to democratise art. I think it is exactly doing what I wanted it to do, which is democratized.
  51. He says he kept making work for himself even after his audience grew. So I was still in that ke yaar main to apne liye bana raha hun na.
  52. He began addressing social issues through his art. But I started tinkering with the idea of addressing social issues through art, right?
  53. He says his painting about the incident aimed to capture its soul, not the incident itself. for me the art piece was capturing this incident, but not the incident itself, but the soul of that incident, right?
  54. He says the painting was meant to show the incident was as bad as it gets. The reason this is painted in this way is I want to show the the people or the the everyone ke this is as bad as it gets.
  55. He says he made the painting in one day and then spent two days deciding whether to share it. maine ek din mein woh draw kar li thi, but I stayed with it for two days.
  56. He says every ideology comes from an individual with a certain experience. Because every ideology is is is coming from an individual with a certain experience.
  57. He says people are not simply right or wrong. Mere nazdeek nahi, aap sahi galat nahi hain.
  58. He says discourse matters because people who disagree can still learn from each other. Ab us guftagu mein aap bhi kuch seekhenge aur main bhi kuch seekhoon.
  59. He says society has become socially amnesiac. hum as a maashra social amnesia ho gaya hai.
  60. He says reactions to incidents rarely bring real change. Isse hota yeh hai ke actual change nahi aata.
  61. He says a reactionary culture stops society from having real discourse. So, this reactionary culture na, as long as this is prevalent, you cannot have discourses in the society
  62. He says a society's threshold for shocking incidents keeps rising. Kyun ke humara ability to absorb, uska threshold badhta ja raha hai.
  63. He says words have immense power. Words have this immense power
  64. He says criticism is a right, but threats to kill are not. Par aap ko kisi ko jaan se maarne ka, dhamki dene ka haq nahi hai.
  65. He says he received messages bordering on death threats after the painting. I got messages that bordering on death threats, bordering on death threats, not actual.
  66. He says he went into absolute seclusion. I went absolute state of seclusion.
  67. He says he lost some close friends during that period. I have lost friends during that time.
  68. He says he still uses social media very little. Mujhe darr lagta hai ke main social media bahut kam use karta hoon
  69. He says art is made for people, so artists should understand their audiences. hum bana bhi logon ke liye rahe hain na.
  70. He asks critics to understand a person's work before criticising it. kaam ko samajhne ki ya kisi idea ko before aap uske khilaf tanqeed karein, usko samajh lein.
  71. He says social media's word limits make real discourse hard. social media pe na, when you put a count on the number of words you can type, to phir aap discourse to nahi kar sakte na.
  72. He describes his work as narrative-based storytelling that addresses social issues. ye iska to kaam hi is all about narrative-based, is telling stories, he wants he addresses social issues.
  73. He says he does not like the word content for his work, and calls it art. mere kaam ko content na kahe. It's an art piece.
  74. He shares finished work but not his painting process. Main art share kar sakta hoon. Main art bana ke zaroor share karta hoon par main process nahi share karta
  75. He says art will move forward when people come and disrupt. Yeh aage badhega jab log tumhare jaise aayenge aur disrupt karenge.
  76. He says he began sharing his work on Instagram around 2016. I remember I started doing it somewhere around 2016.
  77. He says he burned many of his early paintings. To the point I burned uh the all those paintings.
  78. He made some art pieces over three months. And that three months I made some art pieces.
  79. He made his first art piece in late 2011. jo mera pehla art piece hai woh maine 2011 ke aakhir mein uh
  80. His aunt was the only painter in the family. The only person in our family jo paint karti thin.
  81. He says canvas was expensive. because canvas bada mehenga hota tha na yaar
  82. He says drawing at a large scale developed his proportions. because ab main size pe draw karta tha, toh meri proportions just developed on their own.