Biography
Abdullah M. I. Syed was born in Karachi, Pakistan. He is presently working and living in both Karachi and Sydney, where he is completing his PhD in Fine Arts practice at the College of Fine Arts (COFA), University of New South Wales. Syed holds a BA degree in Design (1999) and MEd (2001) from the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO), USA. He also holds an MFA (2009) from COFA. Syed is multi-talented as an artist, freelance designer, and curator. He has coordinated the Design Department at the University of Karachi, Pakistan and has also lectured at UCO, USA. His artwork has been featured in exhibitions in Bangladesh, Sharjah, USA, Australia, Hong Kong, India, UK and Pakistan. Syed attended the Britto Artists’ workshop (2005) and has been an artist in residence at Cicada Press, Sydney (2009). His co-curating credits include Michael Esson’s: A Survey of Drawing, Michael Kempson’s: A Survey of Prints, Aboriginal Dreams, Let’s Draw the Line, and 6/6: the Labyrinth in Karachi. Syed has acquired a number of awards including the Individual Artist of Oklahoma Award for Installation (2003), the COFA Senior Artist from Asia Scholarship (2006), the UNSW’s Postgraduate Research Scholarship (2009), and Blacktown Art Prize (2010), Sydney.
