Farrah is a graduate of the prestigious National College of Arts (NCA) Lahore and specialized in Asian Miniature Painting specifically in the style of Mughal Miniatures of the Subcontinent. She has received her degree of Masters in Art Education from the Beacon House National University (BNU, Lahore) in 2016.
She has delivered many lectures and conducted workshops at several prestigious colleges, universities and arts institutions at National and international level i.e., U.K, U.S.A, Austria, France and China on a variety of subjects related visual art Currently, Farrah is continuing her art practice from her studio and conducting workshops as well on Traditional Miniature Painting at Tumair (Farm-area zone) Islamabad. Her work deals with a range of socio-political issues. In most of her work in fact, the attention is drawn to the abuse of power in all its senses, which is the root cause of a corrupt and unjust system, distressing our personal judgment of human values. The emphasis of her work is on Peace and Humanity. Her works connecting her interests with contemporary experimenting by combining them with traditional miniature painting. She is Chairperson/Associate Professor at the Department of Art and Design, COMSATS University (CUI), Islamabad Campus. At CUI, Farrah has also established the COMSATS Art Gallery (CAG) in 2011. The gallery has a great standing in the art circle and institutes. She has curetted many exhibitions at CAG and has thus promoted many local, national and international artists and in this regard, she received award from the President of Pakistan, honorable Mamnoon Hussain in 2018.
Besides 3 Solo Shows, Farrah has participated in more than 145 National and International Group exhibitions including those held in U.S.A, Canada, U.K, Austria, France, Hong Kong, China, Baku (Azerbaijan), Tehran, Jeddah, India, Bangladesh, U.A.E, Bahrain and Greece. In short span of time Farrah has earned an international reputation.
She has received the prestigious Charles Wallace Visiting Fellowship Award (UK) for the excellence in the field of Traditional Miniature Art and has conducted several workshops for the Art professionals and Students in UK. The Art House in Wakefield, (U.K) awarded her the Artist in Residence in 2009. She has also been awarded Residency by the Austrian Federal Chancellery in 2006. She was nominated for the Sovereign Art Competition in 2015. In 2016 she was Awarded Gold Medal by Markaz Group International Magazine (MGM). The magazine selected 100 women in Pakistan who have made a change through their work and awarded them, “Best Women Role Model Award 2016”.
Farrah is one of the “Winner of Imagining our Future Together” organized by the World Bank. Her work has been included in the World Bank Permanent Collection at the Headquarters in Washington. D.C. In addition, her work is also included in the permanent collections of the prestigious Places and galleries as The National Art Gallery, The Parliament House of Pakistan, Ministry of Science and Technology in Islamabad, Austrian Embassy, Secretary Charles Wallace Trust, The Embassy of People Republic of China and the U.S Embassy in Pakistan.
In August 2014, she completed her Residency Project at CAMAC France with the collaboration of the French Embassy in Islamabad. Farrah was invited by the Chinese Ambassador to be a part of the “Elite Delegates of Pakistan for the China “in year 2016. She has been awarded by CUI for the Management Training at Bedfordshire University (U.K) in July 2017. In Dec, 2018 she has received 2nd Women Role Model Award by KZee Arts. She was awarded Peace friendship award by the PEACE Garden Museum in Beijing, China in Oct,2017. Her work has been selected and awarded to participate in Tabriz International Festival for Women Artisans in Tabriz-June 2019, by The Research Center for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA), Istanbul, and Tabriz University for Islamic Arts and Islamic Culture and Relations Organizations of Iran. In October 2019 she has been awarded by IIRCICA for the First Baku International Art and Crafts Festival. Farrah has curated an enormous project, “My Traditions verses your Modernity” for The Islamabad Art Festival (IAF-19) at Comsats Art Gallery. She has been awarded for curating a professional quality show by the President IAF19 Jamal Shah. In a short period, Farrah Mahmood has made commendable progress in her field of visual Arts and academia.