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Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Jr

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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

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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

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

References

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  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.