Sabina Haque’s work combines oral histories, performance and hand-drawn animation to explore transformations of place and identity. Raised in Karachi by American and Pakistani parents, Haque has spent half her life in America. This cross-cultural experience informs her conceptual approach which uses art as a tool for excavating site-specific stories.
In 2016-17 Haque was selected artist-in-residence at the Portland Archives Center, a public art residency funded by Portland’s Percent for Art program. Collaboration with non-typical art participants, including disadvantaged youth and immigrant communities of color is a vital part of Haque’s creative process. She has partnered with APANO, Africa House, and schools in East Portland to give voice to untold stories through art. Haque acts as bridge between underserved communities and establishment institutions. Her exhibit featuring Somali women’s oral & written histories was installed at PAM (March 2018) and included an artist talk with immigrant activist Lul Abdulle, drawing a non-traditional audience to the museum for the first time. Haque’s series "Right to Return" was included at the Hallie Ford Museum’s show WITNESS which explored issues of race and social justice in contemporary printmaking (September 2018). The museum commissioned Haque to facilitate a zine-print workshop with LGBT and native/indigenous students, resulting in 24 pages of images confronting racism, sexism, and environmental pollution.
Performance and animated-video installations are integral to Haque’s practice. "Un/Belonging" was a durational participatory work staged at Shaking Tree Theater (May 2018). Haque was a 2015 TEDxMtHood speaker and TEDx artist-in-residence. She was awarded the 2014 Oregon Individual Artist Fellowship from OAC.
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