SINGER · SONGWRITER · ACTIVIST · PRODUCER MULTIMEDIA ARTIST ·TEACHER
Samia Malik is a Norwich-based bilingual Urdu and English singer, songwriter, producer and multimedia artist. Her work fuses, extends and subverts traditional South Asian and Western musical, visual and literary forms to explore identity, race and gender.
Her shows are a unique, empowering and electrifying combination of soaring Eastern melodies and powerful, passionate, heartfelt lyrics, with films, translations and her own paintings.
Her current project, Azaadi | آزادی | A Journey To Freedom, tells her story across twelve concerts, four remastered albums, community workshops and visual art, from 2026 to 2028.
“Iconic songs to heal and empower” - Writer and Activist Amrit Wilson
Image credit Fiona Dale
WELCOME TO THE OFFICIAL SITE OF 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 including
Baluji Shrivastav OBE, Dr Mallika Sarabhai, Giuliano Modarelli, Seemab Gul, Al MacSween, Sukhdeep Dhanjal, Sianed Jones and Cris Cheek.
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 has released four albums
'The Colour of the Heart' (1998)
Jaago – Wake Up (2004)
'Samia Malik Live at Norwich Arts Centre' (2019)
'Songs to Heal and Empower' (2023)
Samia delivers highly successful and popular workshops and performances directly in the community, including to vulnerable groups such as refugees and asylum seekers, women and families being supported by domestic violence organisations, isolated rural groups, schools, community choirs, creative groups, music societies, rural touring events, melas, conferences, celebrations, festivals...
and counting!
Samia is also a visual artist: her live shows are supported by projections of her original paintings and videos.
Azaadi | آزادی | A Journey To Freedom
is my three-year project reimagining thirty years of songs and visual art.
Four newly remastered albums released across four seasons, each single with a brand new video, leading to a launch concert at Norwich Theatre on Friday 30 October 2026, broadcast live so anyone, anywhere can be there.
Read the full story and watch the films.
READ THE FULL STORY WATCH THE FILMS
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Supported using public funding by Arts Council England
in partnership with Norwich Theatre and Counterpoints Arts.
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!'
“Malik used her pure and powerful voice like a scalpel to expose themes of racism and misogyny, transcending suffering into triumph...she wants us to face our societal demons in order to defeat them” - Delia Pemberton
— Sidmouth Folk Festival 2024 - Sidmouth Herald 6th August 2024