From selling vegetables at Okhla Sabzi Mandi to founding a nationwide inclusive-art movement.
A surrealist painter, Niyaz draws on the harmony between people, animals and the natural world — work that's earned national-level recognition. Alongside painting, he works as a graphic designer and motivational speaker, and mentors young disabled artists.
Niyaz was born and raised in a slum community in Delhi. School finished in 2011. College was out of reach — family finances made higher education impossible, and even part-time jobs slipped away the moment employers saw his disability.
This was a familiar story. For disabled people from underprivileged backgrounds, society often assumes incapability. Doors that should have been open weren't. Doors that could be opened had no one to open them.
Family finances made college impossible. Employers turned him away.
Unable to find work, he created his own. For nearly four years, he sold vegetables at Okhla Sabzi Mandi in New Delhi.
Fourteen-hour days. Loading crates before dawn. Learning to weigh, bargain, keep the books. Through it all, he kept drawing on the side, filling sketchbooks between customers, carrying the dream of a formal art education.
In 2015, without private coaching or a study circle, he prepared alone for the entrance exam at Jamia Millia Islamia — one of India's most competitive fine-arts programmes.
He got in. Bachelor of Fine Arts, Painting. The first person from his immediate community to enter a national-level fine-arts programme.
The first person from his community to enter a national-level fine arts programme.
Four years of study, entirely self-funded. He worked freelance and part-time throughout — commissions, teaching gigs, occasional exhibition sales — to pay the fees his family couldn't.
He graduated in 2019. He started exhibiting his own paintings and, unofficially at first, mentoring other young artists with disabilities.
The pandemic hit soon after graduation. For most young artists, it was a career-ending blow. For Niyaz, it became the reason to teach.
He distributed rations to slum families in his neighbourhood. He ran free online art classes for slum children. He mentored disabled students through college admissions, scholarship applications, and their first exhibition submissions — the guidance he'd never had.
What most young artists saw as a career-ending crisis, Niyaz turned into a reason to teach.
What began as pandemic-era outreach became a registered foundation. On 5 July 2022, Maqaam Foundation received its national NGO registration.
Since then: over 500 artists with disabilities empowered, more than 700 artworks displayed, 24 exhibitions across six states. Alongside the exhibitions, Niyaz personally provides scholarship guidance, disability-rights counselling, pension and welfare navigation, and career mentorship to young disabled artists across India.
Instead of blaming my circumstances, I chose to work hard, stay determined, and continue moving forward despite the challenges I faced.
Institutional letters of support for Niyaz Hussain, from partners across India's inclusion, disability rights, and arts sectors.
Niyaz is a fine artist. His extraordinary ability to communicate through art makes him a truly distinctive person. Despite his own struggles, he has built a platform where young artists with disabilities can showcase their work to the world.
Niyaz leads with empathy, vision, and quiet determination — creating opportunities that are meaningful rather than merely symbolic. He combines competence with compassion, and delivers with sincerity and professionalism.
Niyaz has used his art to express many societal issues and fight for the rights of people with disabilities. Despite his personal situation, he has gone above and beyond to create his own foundation — and used art as a multiplier for change.
Niyaz is one of those rare individuals who combines creativity with purpose. He is creating meaningful opportunities for children living on the streets — using art as a tool for expression, dignity, and transformation.
It is amazing to see how Niyaz has developed this foundation to nurture talent and give a platform to budding young artists with disabilities. His work is a rare combination of artistry, accessibility and quiet leadership.
Through Maqaam Foundation, Niyaz has created a powerful platform where artists with disabilities can showcase their talent, express their creativity with dignity, and connect with audiences who truly appreciate their work.
A selection of Niyaz's own paintings — before, during and after Maqaam.
