Google Doodle Honoring the 86th Birthday of Zarina Hashmi: Today’s Google Doodle honors the 86th birthday of Indian-American artist and printmaker Zarina Hashmi. Zarina was renowned for her minimalist style, which became synonymous with her prominent personality. Zarina Hashmi entered this world in the quaint origins of Aligarh, an intimate Indian hamlet, back in 1937.

Before the partition, she and her four siblings were leading a prosperous life, but when the tragedy struck, Zarina and her family were forced to migrate to Karachi, the newly established Pakistan, along with millions of others.

Zarina was married to a young diplomat at the age of 21 and set out on a globe tour. She traveled to Bangkok, Paris, and Japan, where she familiarized herself with printmaking, modernist and abstract art movements.

In 1977, Zarina Hashmi embarked on a transformative journey that led her to the vibrant streets of New York City, igniting within her an unwavering dedication to championing the cause of women artists. She quickly joined the Heresies Collective, a feminist publication that examined the nexus between politics, art, and social justice. In a later chapter of her remarkable journey, Zarina Hashmi embraced a pivotal role as a lecturer at the New York Feminist Art Institute. Within those hallowed halls, she ardently championed the cause of equal opportunities, tirelessly advocating for female artists to have unfettered access to higher education.

In 1980, she collaborated in co-curating the exhibition at the AIR Gallery titled “Duality/Dualism: An Exhibition of Third World Women Artists in the United States.”

Zarina rose to prominence for her captivating intaglio and woodcut prints, which often depicted the semi-abstract representation of homes and cities where she had lived.

Zarina Hashmi’s artistic expressions bore the indelible imprints of her multifaceted identity—a tapestry woven from her Indian heritage, her Muslim roots, and the nomadic passages of her childhood. These formative experiences stirred a profound wellspring of inspiration that permeated her artistry. The use of elements from Islamic decorative motifs was particularly notable in her regular geometric compositions.

Her early works have been compared to the minimalist works of Sol LeWitt and other minimalists, characterized by their immateriality and concise geometry. Zarina Hashmi’s artistic brilliance continues to captivate audiences worldwide, earning her a well-deserved place among the permanent collections of esteemed institutions like the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the iconic Whitney Museum of American Art, and the distinguished Solomon R.Her artistic legacy has found a cherished place within esteemed institutions such as the renowned Guggenheim Museum and the illustrious Metropolitan Museum of Art, among an array of other prestigious venues.