samia_malik

'Featured Artist...11/September/2026...samia_malik'

Born in Saudi Arabia to Pakistani parents, Samia has lived in the UK since she was a child. For over 30 years Samia has written, performed and produced bilingual Urdu and English songs based on traditional Urdu Ghazal (a highly refined union of poetry with music) extending and subverting the form to explore contemporary issues around identity, race and gender. Samia has collaborated and toured nationally and internationally with acclaimed world-class musicians, writers and artists.

Samia says: 'I believe art can inform and transform. It is a powerful route to explore what we have in common and how we can heal individually and collectively. At a time when barriers are being put up across the world, it is vital to see how art can also unite us, how we can use traditional cross-cultural forms to explore important contemporary issues, while also having fun!'

In 2004 Samia became the first Pakistani artist in a decade to perform in Kashmir, sharing the stage in Srinagar with the celebrated Indian dancer Dr Mallika Sarabhai in a performance dedicated to the women of Kashmir.

Samia Malik is a British-Pakistani singer, songwriter, artist and producer whose bilingual music in Urdu and English extends the traditional Urdu ghazal to explore identity, race and gender. For over thirty years she has fused South Asian and Western forms, setting the words of poets such as Kishwar Naheed alongside her own, and turning lived experience into songs of defiance, solidarity and healing. Born in Bradford and now based in Norwich, she is a survivor whose work is rooted in activism and the belief that art can transform.

She is currently releasing Azaadi | آزادی | A Journey To Freedom, a three-year project supported by Arts Council England. Across four seasons and four remastered albums, it weaves song, visual art, spoken word and community work into one journey. The first season, The Colour of the Heart (Remastered 2026), unfolds across the year through a series of singles and films, each song paired with Samia's own paintings.

This is where it begins.
"Truly extraordinary and groundbreaking, a remarkable work deep rooted in activism and the power of music." — DESIblitz