Syeda Kainat Jilani is a visual artist based in Karachi, Pakistan. She graduated with a bachelors in Fine Arts from the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture in 2019. Since then, Kainat has exhibited her work both locally and internationally, such as: Identity and Art in ‘An Emerging Pakistan’ in Case Western Reserve University, Ohio which was curated by Elizabeth Meinke, 16th Emerging Talent Exhibition at VM Art Gallery, Karachi and many others.Â
Her art practice revolves around the process of making ‘Ralli’ (hand-crafted quilts primarily made in Sindh, Pakistan) through a layering of various materials and fabrics using a vibrant colour scheme, while she explores the lived experiences of her hometown, Ghotki, a city in Northern Sindh, Pakistan. As a comparatively conservative city, the process of hand crafting these Rallis plays an empowering role for women from her hometown as they are the primary producers of these traditional quilts. Kainat pays special attention to the act of these women from her community, sitting together, sharing ideas and stories while they craft the quilts, as this social practice has inspired her to create her own stylised form of Ralli using different images, drawings and interpretation of spaces.Â