Faculty | LUMS

Nadhra's primary area of research and interest is Sikh period Art & Architectural ornament but she also focuses on Mughal Art and Architecture. Her work so far has traced different influences that have contributed to the flowering of artistic activities under the Sikh rule in the Punjab during the nineteenth century. Generally accused of being a pale imitation of Mughal art and architecture, Nadhra's work emphasizes the significance of this period as the last episode of indigenous art and architecture before it absorbed the European influence and changed forever. Her main focus has been the ornamental program of Maharaja Ranjit Singh's samadhi or funerary monument but this has led her to study almost all major monuments dateable to this period including the Golden Temple Amritsar, Sikh period havelis and various other samadhis. She has uncovered frescoes in several Sikh period buildings buried under layers of whitewash and plans to find more in other extant buildings to be able to better understand their ornamental programs. She has photographed almost all existing nineteenth century Sikh monuments in Punjab (Pakistan) and plans to exhibit her photographs in the near future as well as publish them. She is currently working on architectural manuals published in the early twentieth century as well as translating and annotating some important Sikh period documents.

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Visiting Faculty

BA (Hons), Graphic Design University of the Punjab 1985
MFA, Graphic Design University of the Punjab 1987
PhD, Sikh Art and Architecture University College of Art & Design, University of the Punjab 2010

nadhra.shahbaz@lums.edu.pk
+92 42 3560 8339

Research Interests

Nadhra Shahbaz is working on the following projects: 1- Translate, edit and annotate two chapters of TARIKH-E PUNJAB: ANCIENT TIMES TO ANNEXATION BY THE BRITISH by Ghulam Mohayyuddin Ludhyanvi Alvi Qadri, commonly known as Bute Shah. The book was completed in 1842 but the author kept making additions till 1848.

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