What is your idea of style for the modern woman?
Something without fuss — usually a pair of jeans and a T-shirt
Which living person do you most admire for his or her signature style?
Gayatri Devi but she passed away; now Jane Fonda
What is the trait you most admire in people?
Diligence and determination to see an idea through
What is your greatest extravagance?
Power tools for The Craft Company
What is your favorite journey?
Climbing an impossible hill and then coasting down effortlessly
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Humility
How are you using your medium to promote and maintain Pakistan’s culture?
My craft business, The Craft Company, aims to promote and preserve the art and craft of Pakistan. As an artist my paintings are all about the colour and feel of eastern sensibilities, about the eastern woman and her aesthetic
Muna Siddiqui is the owner and designer of The Craft Company, a handmade craft atelier that works with the ethos of producing arts and crafts to promote and preserve the heritage of sub-continental art and culture. But her watercolor paintings solo show at the Momart Art Gallery in December 2014 after almost a decade since her last solo show is startlingly haunting in its subject and intensity, removed yet connected to her work at the Craft Company and its focus on vintage sub continental art
Which living artist in Pakistan inspires you?
So many to name!
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
It is what it is
What is your greatest achievement?
To always be true to my art, whether it is my creations at The Craft Company or my paintings
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
Not a singular answer
What in future do you consider your greatest achievement?
Probably to keep painting and writing and maintaining the Craft Company
If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?
A superhero who can fly!
What is your most marked characteristic in the world of art?
I think whatever I paint has to be woven with design so that it is a delicate balancing act
What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Elegance and tenacity
What advice would you like to give teenage girls?
Never think you cannot achieve your dreams
Name an essential quality an artist-turned-entrepreneur needs in an emerging market.
Logic, pragmatism and careful selection of what is achievable and what is a long-term goal
Where do you see yourself as an artist and an entrepreneur 5 years from now?
The Craft Company continues to expand in Pakistan and overseas. My paintings have a life of their own and i continue to be as compelled to make them
Name a local home-grown brand whose success you admire.
Khaadi
Name a budding brand that you feel hasn’t received the recognition it deserves.
I think the handmade craft business in general is relegated to this, like APWA, Behboud et al
Text | Marium Ali Khan
Photography | Arsalan Bilgrami
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