Nusra Latif Qureshi: Breathing new life into lost stories

Nusra Latif Qureshi has spent over 30 years reviving Musaviri, a centuries-old South Asian art form nearly lost to colonial history. Her mixed-media works—paintings, collages, and sculptures—speak to themes of trauma, dislocation, and resilience, often featuring solitary female figures that embody both absence and presence. Trained in Lahore, Nusra channels history into her art, breathing life into forgotten stories and reinterpreting them for today’s world. In this episode of SBS Spice, Suhayla Sharif sits down with Nusra at her first major solo exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, delving into how her art invites South Asian audiences to reconnect with their lost histories.

I believe, sitting with what you have, and identifying what you carry with you across borders is quite important, and history is one part of that process. Interacting and engaging with history gives you not an understanding, but an awareness of where things sit.

Nusra Latif Qureshi on the importance of history in understanding identity

Nusra Latif Qureshi ‘Medusa’s respite room’ 2017, gouache and synthetic polymer paint on illustration board, 32.5 × 25 cm, The State Art Collection, The Art Gallery of Western Australia, purchased 2018 © Nusra Latif Qureshi

SBS Spice is the destination channel for young South Asian Australians, exploring what makes us tick—or ick. Join us for regular episodes featuring firebrand South Asian culture makers who are shaping our conversations.

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