Surjeet Husain was born in Rawlapindi, Greater India. She trained in music, art and design at Agra University, Dehra Dun.
She came to England in 1960 to further her studies at Heatherley School of Fine Art, before returning briefly to continue her research into Indian art, textiles and culture. During this period she became head designer of OCM carpet manufacturers in Amritsar.
She returned to Britain in 1968 and began to work for the United Nations on the Women’s Training Project, which involved travelling throughout India and Pakistan setting up centres in carpet weaving.
Surjeet was a lecturer in textiles at Hammersmith and Fulham Community Education Services in London. She has also worked as a freelance embroiderer and artist and has travelled throughout Great Britain and Europe teaching the art of Indian and English embroidery. In 1998 Surjeet travelled to South Africa to teach and lead workshops on Indian Embroidery. Over many years she has been involved in many textile projects with the V&A based on Indian embroidery, which include mirror work and exploring stitches. She was also involved in two major exhibitions, Colour of the Indus and The Art of the Sikh Kingdoms.
In addition, as an accomplished musician, she promotes the rich musical heritage of the subcontinent through her recitals of classical Indian music. She has held workshops on Indian miniature painting and has exhibited her own miniature paintings to great acclaim.
She has travelled extensively in India, researching her artistic and cultural heritage, in particular sheesha, phulkari and kantha work, topics in which she specialises. To date she has published three workbooks on sheesha, phulkari and kantha. Surjeet is a member of the Embroiderers’ Guild and the New Embroidery Group.
Recent exhibitions
August 2005 - “My Journey”, a solo exhibition at the New Walk Museum, Leicester
July 2006 - Exhibition with New Embroidery Group at the Waterloo Gallery, London
March 2008 - Created a contemporary kantha with Dorothy Tucker and Jenny Bullen for “Creative Dialogues” a PSG exhibition, first shown at the Bankfield Gallery, Halifax.
Sheesha embroidery
Kantha work
kantha work
