Sanchita Islam 28 April 1973) was an English artist, painter, writer and filmmaker of
Bangladeshi descent. In 1999, she founded Pigment Explosion, which has branched out into projects including film, painting, drawing, writing and photography.
Early life
Islam was born in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, Lancashire, England
[ Sanchita Islam] to Bangladeshi parents.
Islam's father died when she was eight months old, at the time her mother was in her mid 20s with three children under the age of four.
Islam and her sisters were brought up by their mother and step-father. Her mother was a social worker in Manchester and
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...
.
From 1977 to 1984, Islam attended Amberleigh Preparatory School. From 1984 to 1991, she attended Chorlton Convent High School for Girls. In June 1991, she completed
A-levels
The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational au ...
in Art, English Literature, History at
Loreto College in Manchester. In June 1992, she completed an Art foundation diploma at
Manchester Metropolitan University
Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has over 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Educat ...
.
In September 1996, Islam graduated from the
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...
,
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
with a
BSc
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...
in International History and a
MSc in Comparative Politics.
In February 1998, she completed an
MA in Directing and Screenwriting sponsored by
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
at the Northern Media School at
Sheffield Hallam University.
She then enrolled for
BA in Fine Art Practice and Theory of Visual Art at
Chelsea College of Art and Design
Chelsea College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London based in London, United Kingdom, and is a leading British art and design institution with an international reputation.
It offers further education, further ...
and dropped out in her second year.
Career
From 1996 to 1998, Islam had a short career working as researcher in television for
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...
.
In 1998, Islam participated in the group show 000 at the
Whitechapel Art Gallery
The Whitechapel Gallery is a public art gallery in Whitechapel on the north side of Whitechapel High Street, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The original building, designed by Charles Harrison Townsend, opened in 1901 as one of the ...
. Later, during a show of her drawings and paintings, she was told she would have to be at the gallery full-time. Islam decided to take her practice to the public.
People came to the gallery and were more interested in watching Islam paint, which urged Islam to combine live painting, live visuals and live music. In January 1999, Pigment Explosion was initially set up to perform live art events,
but now specialises in international art projects.
Since 1999, Pigment Explosion has branched out into projects that include film, painting, drawing, writing and photography.
Islam has done nearly 100 group and solo shows
in London, Paris, New York and Bangladesh.
She has published 10 books and written two plays
as well as readings tours with writers like
Irvine Welsh
Irvine Welsh (born 27 September 1958) is a Scottish novelist, playwright and short story writer. His 1993 novel '' Trainspotting'' was made into a film of the same name. He has also written plays and screenplays, and directed several short fil ...
and
Miranda Sawyer
Miranda Caroline Sawyer (born January 1967) is an English author, journalist and broadcaster.
Education and early life
Sawyer was born in Bristol and grew up in Wilmslow, Cheshire with her brother Toby, who is an actor. Sawyer was educated at ...
. She has worked with the
British Council
The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...
, on projects with the elderly, workshops in schools and with disadvantaged children.
She has directed and/or produced 15 films,
and screened her work in London, New York, Bangladesh, Kuala Lumpur, Rome, India, Brussels, Pakistan, Frankfurt,
Her films and books, which combine text and drawings, have been funded by the
Arts Council,
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
.
She was an artist in residence at the Whitechapel Art Gallery between 2003 and 2004, she was artist in residence at the Open Gallery from 2004 to 2008,
from 2004 to 2009. She was also artist in resident at Artscape and Shoreditch House and her art features in various venues around London such as Sketch,
's restaurant and she was commissioned to do over one hundred paintings for Clifton Hotel Group in Bristol.
In 2010, the UK Film Council commissioned Islam's animated film ''The White Wall''. In 2010 and 2011 the theatre group Estaca Zero Teatro in Portugal performed two of Islam's plays, ''The Suitcase'' and ''Hello''.
. KAOS (TrActor's sister organisation) awarded her a grant to complete the second scroll project with patients suffering from mental health problems in Brussels 2014.
Rich Mix has invited Pigment Explosion again to exhibit this second scroll and write/perform a play about art, madness and disability, the show is scheduled in June 2015. In March of the same year, she was interviewed by
about her exhibition ''The Rebel Within''.
In January 2015, Muswell Hill Press published her new book, written under the pseudonym Q.S Lam, ''Schizophrenics Can Be Good Mothers Too''.
In June 2015, the book was launched in London at Shoreditch House and Rich Mix.
is married and has two children
In 2009, at the age of 36, she had her first experience of
.
Sanchita Islam passed away in Manchester on 3 July 2023, aged 50.