Today we’d like to introduce you to Khawaja Azimuddin.
Hi Khawaja, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I am a surgeon, author and Artist. Born in Pakistan, I moved to the United States for higher education in the surgical field and made Houston my home. I specialize in the field of colon and rectal surgery and am one of the very few board-certified colon surgeons in Houston performing advanced robotic colon surgery. As a child, I spent two years in a refugee camp. The conditions were harsh and food, as well as clothing, was scarce, but somehow, we survived. I wrote my experiences of these two years and you can find my story in my autobiography “The boy refugee: a memoir from a long-forgotten war”.
I am also a ceramic tile artist. I love creating glazed ceramic tiles with Islamic art patterns. Some of my large-scale murals are installed in public places.
I am most proud of my work as the Chairman of the Islamic Arts Society. This is a nonprofit that I helped form in 2016. The purpose of this society is to share the rich heritage of Islamic Arts and thereby introduce Houstonians to our arts and culture. The society organizes exhibitions, workshops and lectures. Our flagship event is the annual Islamic Arts festival which today, is the largest and oldest festival of Islamic arts in North America. People from all walks of life, religions, ethnicities, and backgrounds visit this festival and come together for two days of fun and festivities. The society has done an amazing job in bringing people of diverse backgrounds together and serves as a platform for open dialogue and discussion around art.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Overall, I have been very satisfied with the success of the Islamic Arts Society. Our programs are enthusiastically received by participants who are always wanting more from us. Libraries and colleges routinely reach out to us to bring art programs and exhibitions. However, because of a lack of funding and resources, we are unable to provide these programs on a larger scale. This is my biggest obstacle and challenge and I wish that one day we will be able to take these art programs to all over Texas.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I love designing and painting ceramic tiles. I draw my inspiration from Islamic art. Islamic art is intricate, serene and symmetric, and reflects the beauty of God and His scripture. I strive to recreate a fraction of the beauty of the Islamic Art enshrined in the iconic images of the Taj Mahal and Alhambra, which are the shining examples of Islamic art.
I paint beautiful intertwining arabesque or geometric patterns in my art to bring serenity and calm to the viewers. At other times, I carve patterns and calligraphy on greenware. This is an intricate and painstakingly slow process and may take months to complete. The green tile is then fired and later glazed or stained.
I draw/create intricate large-scale patterns on blank bisque ceramic tiles, then paint these tiles with glazes. Each tile or plate is individually hand-painted with different colors. Then the tiles are fired in an oven and the final product comes out as a shining glazed ceramic tile. When the individual tiles are placed side by side on a wall, they create a beautiful eye-catching mural. Many of my pieces are made up of hundreds of such individual tiles arranged in a mosaic. Others are individual tiles or plates.
I am a Colon-Rectal Surgeon and naturally love to dissect, carve and create with my hands. After a day’s work with the scalpel & forceps, I relax with the brush and glaze to create calligraphy on ceramic tiles in the evenings. In doing so, I find peace and tranquility and this is my spiritual escape. This is my hobby and my passion!
What do you like and dislike about the city?
Houstonians are open hearted and welcoming. I like the excitement created by our Islamic Arts programs. It is a joy to see the happiness on the faces of participants who come to our art programs. They love our hand on workshops on Calligraphy, Henna, Painting or Ebru. It is a priceless experience and I love spreading joy, beauty and happiness.
I do not like the stereotyping of people. Muslims and Islam are sometimes portrayed as evil by media. This is the negative stereotyping I am trying to counteract through the medium of art. Muslims have a very rich tradition of art and I am using it to start a dialogue and get people talking.
Houston is the most diverse city in the United States. Houstonians are open-hearted people and whenever we take our Islamic Arts program to libraries or colleges we get a very warm reception. People are inquisitive about Islamic Arts and have not encountered any negative feedback in the few years of our existence.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://theboyrefugee.com/my-art/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AzimuddinTheArtist
