Talking Culture and Taking Chances with Urooj Shakeel
An interview for Sixty Inches From Center
January 2020
Like many people who move to Chicago, Urooj Shakeel made the decision to relocate from a suburb of Detroit after realizing that if she wanted to try her hand at a career in the arts, now was the time. She doubled down and left long careers in healthcare and marketing to study arts administration and policy at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Prior to her move, she took a moment to reflect on her love of Detroit and the ways in which it seeded her love for art. Urooj wrote on her website, “I could go on forever talking about Detroit and all the artworks I’ve come across, interacted with and studied. How each one of them inspired me in my own art projects and where my ideas originated from. I can never be thankful enough for my colossal beginnings in Detroit. Everything I’ve learned from this city will inspire me in everything I plan to do in Chicago.”
Her words foreshadow how she would shape her practice after landing in Chicago just over two years ago. While holding fellowships and positions at cultural institutions and foundations, Urooj graduated from SAIC in the summer of 2019. She wrapped up her studies with two ambitious projects that pushed her into new territory creatively and curatorially. One is an exploration of family legacies through language and a project that paid homage to the poetry of her nana, or grandfather. The other, Truck Art Meets Little Free Library, is a project that reimagines iconic emblems that are prevalent across Pakistan and other South Asian cultures, then places them in one of Chicago’s quintessential communities to provoke connection.
As Urooj enters the next chapter of her life and practice, she took some time to talk about collaborating with family, the art inherent to Pakistani and Islamic cultures, and the creative and spiritual growth that’s possible when you give yourself permission to take a chance.
Photo Credits:
[1 + 2] Portraits of Urooj Shakeel by Mark Blanchard.
[3] Urooj Shakeel's Truck Art Meets Little Free Library, installation view along Devon Avenue in Chicago. The image shows a small, yellow truck sculpture with bright multicolored images painted on each side, held up by a bright blue stake in the ground. Photo by Mark Blanchard.
