Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Jr

For this person's grandfather, the Pakistani politician, see Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Jr.
Bhutto in 2007
Born
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto

(1990-08-01) 1 August 1990 (age 34)[1]
Damascus, Syria
NationalityPakistani
Alma materSan Francisco Art Institute
University of Edinburgh
OccupationTextile artist
Known forWildlife advocacy, LGBT activism
Parents
RelativesSee Bhutto family
Websitezulfikaralibhuttoart.org

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Jr. (Urdu: ذوالفقار علی بھٹو, Sindhi: ذُوالفِقّارعلِي ڀُٽو; born 1 August 1990)[2][3] is a Pakistani visual artist, performance artist and curator as well as a human rights activist.[4][5] He is a member of the prominent political Bhutto family, and is the grandson of former President and Prime Minister of Pakistan, and his namesake, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Early life and career

Bhutto was born on 1 August 1990 into the Sindhi Bhutto family in Damascus, Syria. He is the son of Murtaza Bhutto, a politician who was assassinated when he was six years old, and Ghinwa Bhutto, who leads the Pakistan Peoples Party of Shaheed Bhutto.[6] He has a half-sister, Fatima Bhutto, from his father's first marriage. He is of Pakistani descent from his father and has Lebanese ancestry from his mother's side.[7][6] Bhutto was named after his grandfather Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the former Prime Minister and President of Pakistan, and is the only male inherent of the Bhutto's family.[6] His grandmother, Nusrat Bhutto, is of Iranian-Kurdish descent. The former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto is his paternal aunt, and her husband and former President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, is his uncle-by-marriage, while his father's brother, Shahnawaz Bhutto, is his uncle. The politician, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, is his first cousin.[citation needed]

Bhutto received his Master of Fine Arts degree in 2016 from the San Francisco Art Institute.[8][7][9] He has two undergraduate degrees from the University of Edinburgh.[10]

Bhutto has worked on creative projects such as Mussalmaan Musclemen (2017), The Third Muslim: Queer and Trans Muslim Narratives of Resistance and Resilience (2018), The Alif Series (2019), and Tomorrow We Inherit the Earth (2019).[11][12][4] In 2015, he exhibited an artworks titled ‘The Shrine’, which dealt with the subject of marginalised minorities in Pakistan through photo manipulation, portraiture and conceptual art.[8] Artist and designer Hushidar Mortezaie has worked with Bhutto and designed some of his performance costumes.[2]

In July 2022, he withdrew his participation from the Goethe Institute Film Fest in solidarity with Palestine, as Palestinian activist Mohammed El-Kurd was not invited.[13] Additionally, writer Mohammed Hanif withdrew from the Goethe Institute conference.[13]

Personal life

Bhutto currently lives in Karachi, Pakistan, and identifies himself as a queer.[7][14]

References

  1. ^ Fatima Bhutto. Songs of Blood and Sword. p. 299.
  2. ^ a b Sultan, Iman (7 August 2020). "Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Jr. wants you to see a parallel world". Input magazine. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  3. ^ Winn, Steven (26 October 2018). "'Beyond Gravity' a force of attraction at SF Counterpulse". Datebook | San Francisco Arts & Entertainment Guide. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  4. ^ a b Khan, Saira (20 February 2018). "The Scion of a Pakistani Political Dynasty Comes Out". The New York Times.
  5. ^ "Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Jr talks about his queer politics, drag performances, art and masculinity - Pakistan Today". www.pakistantoday.com.pk.
  6. ^ a b c Salman, Peerzada (23 June 2017). "Bhutto Jr steps into art world, raises hopes". DAWN.COM.
  7. ^ a b c "Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Junior: an artist exploring intersection of Islam, sexuality and masculinity". Pakistan Today. 21 February 2018.
  8. ^ a b Ahmed, Shoaib (13 January 2015). "Zulfikar Junior's portrayal of minorities". Dawn magazine.
  9. ^ "Zulfikar Ali Bhutto". YBCA. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  10. ^ Burke, Sarah (16 February 2017). "A 'Prayformance' Confronts Islamophobia, Claims Common Ground". KQED. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  11. ^ Dinesh, Nandita (14 September 2020). Chronicles from Kashmir: An Annotated, Multimedia Script. Open Book Publishers. ISBN 978-1-80064-020-7.
  12. ^ Kini, Aditi Natasha (7 February 2018). "A New Exhibit Explores the Art and Identity of Queer Muslims". Vice.com. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  13. ^ a b "In solidarity with Palestine: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Jr withdraws from Goethe Institute Film Fest". The Express Tribune. 19 July 2022.
  14. ^ Kuruvilla, Carol (31 January 2018). "These Queer Muslims Are Using Art To Tell Their Stories". HuffPost.