Jerwood Foundation acquires Alphabets by Ali Kazim

Jerwood Foundation is delighted to announce the acquisition of Alphabets, 2025, a suite of nineteen etchings and aquatints by Pakistani artist Ali Kazim (b. 1979).

 

Published by Cristea Roberts Gallery, Alphabets is Kazim’s first print portfolio and comprises nineteen intricately detailed etchings and aquatints, each corresponding to a different letter of the Urdu alphabet. The series reflects on the rich and complex histories, cultures, languages and iconographies of South Asia.

 

Born in Pattoki, Pakistan, and now based in Lahore, Kazim is internationally recognised for his meticulous and contemplative practice, which draws upon South Asian miniature painting traditions, East Asian wash techniques and, more recently, European etching. His work explores themes of memory, materiality, language and history, often through subjects drawn from both the everyday and the symbolic.

 

The portfolio includes works such as: Hudhud, depicting the hoopoe bird associated with Sufi poetry and Qur’anic narratives; Tipu’s Tiger, referencing the celebrated eighteenth-century automaton commissioned by Tipu Sultan; and Koh-i-Noor, a delicate rendering of the famed diamond now part of the British Crown Jewels. Other works capture more intimate and familiar subjects, from a roti flatbread and clothes hanging on a washing line to fragments of archaeological pottery and scenes recalling the Partition of India. Together, the series forms a poetic and layered meditation on identity, language, migration and the entangled histories of the region.

 

Kazim’s work is held in major international collections including Tate, the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane.

 

 

Lara Wardle, Executive Director & Trustee, Jerwood Foundation said:

Ali Kazim’s Alphabets series is an exceptional addition to the Jerwood Collection. These detailed etchings and aquatints beautifully explore the intersection of language and culture. Our focus is to enhance the understanding and enjoyment of this period of art, and acquiring this portfolio means these remarkable works will be shared widely through our active loaning programme.

 

Discover more about Ali Kazim and Alphabets

 

Ali Kazim features in an episode of Cristea Roberts Gallery’s Making a Mark podcast, in which he discusses the creation of Alphabets, the imagery and histories behind the nineteen prints, and the influences that have shaped his practice.

 

The series is also explored in Ali Kazim: Alphabet Book | Urdu Qaida, a 144-page publication created in collaboration with curator Hammad Nasar. Written in English and Urdu, the book takes inspiration from the Urdu alphabet books, or qaidas, familiar to generations of children across the South Asian subcontinent and its diaspora.

 

Find out more about Alphabets, listen to the Making a Mark podcast and discover Ali Kazim: Alphabet Book | Urdu Qaida through Cristea Roberts Gallery.

 

September 28, 2026