The National Portrait Gallery has commissioned a new portrait of Malala Yousafzai, the girls’ education activist by Iranian-born artist and filmmaker, Shirin Neshat, supported by Scott Collins and Lotta Ashdown, in partnership with Outset Contemporary Art Fund. This was the first in a series of three commissions supported by Outset between 2018-2023.
Born in Mingora, Pakistan in 1997, Malala Yousafzai first came to prominence in 2009 after writing about her life during the Taliban occupation of Swat Valley, and the ban on girls’ education. In October 2012, Malala was shot in the head in an attack by a Taliban gunman on her school bus. She recovered in Birmingham where she chose to remain with her family. In 2013, Malala was awarded the International Children’s Peace Prize and co-founded the Malala Fund to champion every girl’s right to 12 years of free, safe, quality education. In 2014, Malala became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize with Indian activist Kailash Satyarthi
Malala’s portrait is one of a pair of portraits by Neshat, acquired for the National Portrait Gallery Collection. Neshat took a series of photographs during a sitting in London in March 2018. From this the artist and the Gallery selected two photographs, onto which Neshat has hand inscribed in calligraphy a poem, MALALA II: (Malala Yousafzai), by the Pushto poet Rahman Shah Sayel from Peshawar, written in 2011 when Malala had already become a well-known activist for education. The poem addresses the legendary Malala of Maiwand and praises Malala Yousafzai, while making connections between the two young women.
The second portrait of Malala seated at a school desk with an open book traveled to Birmingham Museums, where it was unveiled in 2020 as part of Coming Home – an exciting initiative of the NPG, which saw fifty portraits from the National Portrait Gallery’s collection travel to places across the UK they are closely associated with.
POEM INSCRIBED
MALALA II: (Malala Yousafzai)
By Rahmat Shah Sayel Translated by Qasim Swati
O Malala I, Malala II is your reincarnation and the new Malala of the Pakhtoons.?You can listen to your own voice when Malala II is speaking after a long time, as Malala II is obsessed with what you believed in and acted upon.?As the flag made up of your red shawl is still flying over your grave in Maiwand as a symbol of your heroism for the sake of?your Pashtoon Nation, Malala II is also following in your footsteps.?As you made your Pashtoon Nation undefeatable in the history of Maiwand by your own single tappa [a short folk song of northern Indian origin], Malala II is also determined,undefeated and strong enough in carrying out her mission.?No one could break your record of bravery for the last two generations, but she [Malala II] did so, because she does the same for her nation, as you did for yours.?If the people had valued you as equal to flowers [because of your bravery and achievements], so have the flowers?themselves gifted Malala II to the people of Pakhtunkhwa.?You might have seen the wreckage of your country, but this Malala II is fit and proper enough to find a solution for compensating for that wreckage.?Whatever tappa you had sung in the battlefield of Maiwand; that tappa had been coined and invented by Malala II, as she?is hugely inspiring.?As you encouraged the defeated and disheartened fighters of your nation to come back to the trenches and fight against the enemy, this is Malala II who is determined to accomplish your mission.?While you brought a huge honour to your nation by encouraging your countrymen to fight against the enemy, the same battle is fought by her [Malala II] with the help of a pen [education] to serve her nation.?You are the reflection of the poetry of Sa’eel, but she is a light born from your reflection.
Shirin Neshat’s early photographic works explored questions of gender in relation to Islamic culture. Her subsequent video works departed from overtly political content or critique in favour of more poetic imagery and complex human narratives. In 1999 Neshat was the recipient of the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Biennial. In 2009, she directed her first feature-length film, Women Without Men, which received the Silver Lion Award for Best Director at the Venice International Film Festival. Her most recent feature film Looking for Oum Kulthum was released in 2017.
The National Portrait Gallery was founded in 1856 to encourage through portraiture the appreciation and understanding of the people who have made and are making British history and culture. Today it promotes engagement with portraiture in all media to a wide-ranging public by conserving, growing and sharing the world’s largest collection of portraits. The Gallery, just off Trafalgar Square, holds the most extensive collection of portraits in the world. With over 1000 portraits on display, across three floors, from Elizabeth I to David Beckham, the Gallery has something for everyone. Artists featured range from Holbein to Hockney, and the Collection includes work across all media, from painting and sculpture to photography and video. As well as the permanent displays, the Gallery has a diverse and ever-changing programme of exhibitions and events that promote an understanding and appreciation of portraiture in all forms. https://www.npg.org.uk
