Saud Baloch

My practice explores the tension between body, land, and power in Balochistan, Pakistan—a region marked by what Rob Nixon describes as “slow violence”: the gradual, often invisible harm caused by political repression, resource extraction, and environmental degradation. Through sculpture, drawing, installation, sound, and video, I examine how systems of control leave imprints on both people and the landscape.

The human form and the land often mirror each other in my work — both scarred, both enduring. I draw from oral testimonies, archival fragments, and field research to translate acts of disappearance, erasure, and resilience into sensory experiences. My installations frequently employ materials such as clay, soot, fabric, and metal, each chosen for its symbolic and tactile associations with fragility, endurance, and history. Sound and video extend these spaces into immersive environments, where traces of voices and silence coexist.

My drawings, composed of countless hand-drawn circles, are meditative reflections on repetition, labour, and survival — visual mappings of unseen histories. They often resemble aerial views, suggesting the surveillance and control that define the region’s reality.

Ultimately, my work seeks to transform absence into presence — to create spaces where what has been silenced can be seen and felt. It is an ongoing act of remembrance and resistance, giving visibility to stories that persist despite attempts to erase them.

I was born in Nushki, Balochistan, Pakistan, and have lived and worked in the United Kingdom since 2016. Growing up in a region shaped by enforced disappearances, displacement, and environmental degradation, I have been profoundly influenced by the fragility of memory, resilience, and the enduring connection between people and land. Living between two countries has deepened my perspective on loss, survival, and cultural identity. These experiences inform my practice, which explores absence and endurance through sculpture, drawing, installation, sound, and video. My work seeks to translate personal and collective histories into sensory experiences that invite reflection, witness, and understanding.