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Join us for a conversation with artist, activist, and architect Sofia Karim, who will touch on the imprisonment of her uncle, the renowned Bangladeshi photographer Shahidul Alam, and how it led to her ideas on architecture as a language of struggle and resistance. 

This event is located at the San José Museum of Art (110 S Market St, San Jose, CA). Seating is limited; registering in advance is recommended. Advance registration includes admission to the Museum. Learn more at the San José Museum of Art event webpage.

This program is presented in conjunction with Seeing through Stone, a multi-sited exhibition that is part of the Visualizing Abolition series. 

Sofia Karim has practiced architecture for over twenty years at studios including Norman Foster, London and Peter Eisenman, New York. Her practice combines architecture, visual art, and activism. The incarceration of her uncle (photographer and activist Shahidul Alam) led to the development of her theories on an ‘Architecture of Disappearance.’ and her explorations of architecture as a language of struggle and resistance. Her activism focuses on human rights across Bangladesh and India, where she campaigns for the release of imprisoned artists and political prisoners. She is the founder of Turbine Bagh, a joint artists’ movement against fascism and authoritarianism and platform for political art and activism.

She was a finalist for the Jameel Prize: Poetry to Politics, in 2021. She has exhibited at galleries and museums including Tate Modern, London; The Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Rubin Museum of Art, New York; Wrightwood 659, Chicago; and as part of Documenta 15, Steidl/ Kunsthaus Göttingen. Her work has been presented at Harvard University and Cambridge University, and featured in publications including The Observer, The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Architectural Review, The Art Newspaper, and the British Journal of Photography. She has appeared on BBC World News, Channel 4 News, Al Jazeera, and Sky News. She lectures on architecture and is a visiting critic at the Westminster School of Architecture.

Courtesy of sofiakarim.co.uk. Edited for length and clarity.

Image: Sofia Karim. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Lylah Sanderson.