Maliha Abidi

Maliha Abidi (b. 1995) is a Pakistani-American multidisciplinary artist, author, and speaker based in London. Working across painting, animation, publishing, and immersive installations, her practice explores and challenges dominant narratives surrounding identity and gender. Drawing on experiences of displacement, her research examines how migration shapes identity and cultural memory through a feminist lens. She is the founder of Women Rise, an initiative advocating for women’s rights and girls’ education, and BackPackX, a spatial computing platform focused on education through storytelling in underserved communities. Alongside her visual practice, Abidi is a three-time published author. Her published books include Pakistan for Women (2019), Rise: Extraordinary Women of Colour Who Changed the World (2021), and Journey to America (2022), all of which reflect her ongoing commitment to amplifying underrepresented histories and experiences. Abidi’s work has been exhibited internationally in cities including London, Paris, New York, Karachi, and Miami, at venues such as Outernet London, Frameless Gallery, Hunna Art, Tate Modern (as part of Instagram Creator Week), and The Other Art Fair. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, BBC, and Good Morning America, and she has collaborated with organisations including Adobe, UNHCR, charity: water, Meta, and Snapchat. Abidi is the winner of the ORB Art Award, 2026, a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, and holds an MA in Contemporary Art Practice from the Royal College of Art and an MFA from the Ruskin School of Art at the University of Oxford

Personal website.