Syarifah Nadhirah (b.1993) is an architect by practice, a Visual Artist, and currently serves as Creative Director (under the Forest Conservation team) at Forest House.  Syarifah’s work focuses on cataloguing Malaysia’s edible plants in her book, Recalling Forgotten Tastes. Her most recent work explores ideas of memory and matter of plant migration, resulting in her solo exhibition, ‘Measure of Seeds’. Syarifah’s artistic and research practice speculates on the trajectories of our botanical landscapes through printmaking, material culture and archival art. Her body of work cross-pollinates art with ecological relationships, exploring the role of tacit knowledge in decentralising narratives around plants, seed guardianship and food security in relation to the changing landscapes of the environment.

Working on these tangents, she has attended the Rimbun Dahan Southeast Asian Arts Residency, exhibited her artworks both locally and internationally in Thailand, and was invited to speak on international panels including On Biodiversity: History, Heritage, and Research in Asia at the National University of Singapore and Bangkok Literature Festival. Some of her artworks are collected by Rimbun Dahan and Jim Thompson Foundation.

She has also endevoured into running her own co-founded design studio Paperweight Studio.

EXHIBITIONS

2023    The Aesop Women’s Library : Malaysia Edition

2023    S.O.E “ WE TRADE EVERYTHING “ 2023, Khon Kaen, Thailand

2022    Measure of Seeds, A Solo Exhibition by Syarifah Nadhirah

2021    REKA: Cetakan | Hin Bus Depot, Penang

2020    HOM ART OPEN 2020 | HOM Art Trans, Kuala Lumpur

2019    Climate Exhibition IPOH INTERNATIONAL ART FESTIVAL 2019 | PORT IPOH, Ipoh

2019    WOMEN SHOW - KALI INI KITA BERSAMA | Serantau Sebahagian | National Visual Art Gallery, Malaysia

2019    KUALA LUMPUR INTERNATIONAL MINIPRINT EXHIBITION | Segaris Art Centre, Publika, Malaysia

2019    MAY - RIMBUN DAHAN OPEN DAY | Rimbun Dahan, Selangor, Malaysia

2019    MARCH - RIMBUN DAHAN OPEN DAY | Rimbun Dahan, Selangor, Malaysia

2018    108 project ART FETE & CURATED SHOPS | GM Bukit Bintang

2018    WOMEN IN THE ARTS | Bank Negara Museum and Art Gallery

RESIDENCY

2019     Southeast Asian Art Residency | Rimbun Dahan, Selangor, Malaysia,

AWARDS

2021     CENDANA Visual Arts Showcase Fund

Project Name: Measure of Seeds

2020     CENDANA Create Now Fund

Project Name: Mapping Indigeneity (Illustrated Series)

2020     Pardicolor Creative Art Fund

Project Name: Mapping Indigeneity (Memory of Tastes)

2019     INXO ARTS FUND 2019 by INXO Arts and Culture Foundation 

Project Name: Recalling Forgotten Tastes

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

2021    Di Situ Conversation: di Laut / Hutan, Interdisciplinary Works of Art

The Japan Foundation, KL and KongsiKL

2021    e-CICL E- Conference on Indigenous Culture and Language

Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Batu Lintang, Kuching

2021    Illustrating Nature - Sharing session with students from Kargil

Organized by The Tropicalist and Young Artists of Kargil

2022    Understanding Nature through Indigenous Knowledge - Guest Speaker

School of Architecture and Built Environment , UCSI University

2022    Every Seed A Story : Artist + Collaborators Conversation

In conjunction with Solo Exhibit, Measure of Seeds

2023    Recalling Forgotten Memories and Landscape: Painting the Plantation History

Rumah Attap Library and Collective

2023    On Biodiversity: History, Heritage, and Research in Asia

National University of Singapore

2023    The Taste of Southeast Asia, Bangkok Literature Festival

Neilson Hays Library, Bangkok

2023    On Field: Notes from People Preserving the Planet, Bangkok Literature Festival

Neilson Hays Library, Bangkok

WORKSHOPS

2023    Introduction to Botanical Illustration | The Marriott, Bangkok Literature Festival

2021    Wildflower Discovery + Anatomy Workshop | Urban Biodiversity Initiative  

2020    Wildflower Workshop | Urban Biodiversity Initiative  

2020    Guest Artist for Printmaking Class | Sekolah Methodist ACS, Ipoh  

2019    Linocut Printmaking | Ipoh International Art Festival 2019, PORT IPOH    

2019    Botanical Painting Classes April 2019 - May 2019 | Rimbun Dahan, Selangor, Malaysia.

2018    Introduction to Painting Workshop November 2018 | Bank Negara Malaysia

2018    Art Classes September 2018 | Kedai Jalanan 

2018    Community Painting Workshop August 2018 | Yayasan Sime Darby Arts Festival 

2017    PAINT & GAIN | Watercolor Workshop  May 2017 | Urbanscapes