Naiza Khan is one of eleven laureates to receive the 2013 Prince Claus Award, only the third Pakistani to receive the honour.
The Prince Claus Award, established in 1997, is given by the Prince Claus Fund, named in honour of Prince Claus of the Netherlands, and subsidised by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. With a focus on culture and development, it awards individuals and organisations whose artistic output is reckoned to have exerted a positive influence on culture and society.
Khan, born in 1968, focuses on the role of women in Pakistani society, with a particular focus on the female body. A resident of Bhawalpur, a city in Punjab Province, Khan founded the VASL Artists’ Collective, which describes itself as an “international platform for Pakistani artists and contemporary art in Pakistan”.
Khan arrived at Somerville College as an undergraduate in 1987, and studied at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, completing her course in 1990.
Her award was reported in Pakistan’s Daily Times and Tribune