Khadim Ali trained at the National College of Arts, Lahore, where he specialized in Indo-Persian miniature painting. His work draws on the iconography of Persian epics such as the Shahnameh and reinterprets them through the lens of contemporary politics, migration, and identity. Ali studied miniature painting at the National College of Arts, Lahore, and calligraphy at Tehran University, Iran. The artist’s intricate works encompass imagery from history, politics, literature, poetry, and mythology to explore contemporary events such as the civil war in Afghanistan and personal experiences of persecution, displacement, and discrimination.

His works have been exhibited at the Venice Biennale, Documenta 13, the Asia Pacific Triennial, and are held in the collections of the British Museum, Queensland Art Gallery, and the Art Gallery of New South Wales.