Art for a cause: Unveiling harsh realities of child labour

Artist Syed Muhammad Raza showcases his work at Canvas Gallery

KARACHI: They are all around us. Inside our homes mopping floors, outside sweeping the windshields of our cars, selling tea at different stalls. We are all aware of the little hands and feet that continue to work day and night.

This is precisely the subject matter of artist Syed Muhammad Raza's exhibition, titled 'Lucid Dreams', whose works are a combination of acrylic on canvases and murals at the art gallery. His work is being showcased at Canvas Gallery.

Raza is a freelance mural artist based in Karachi. Apart from working commercially in restaurants and offices, he exhibits his work from time in galleries. Before this, he showcased a labour series on workers of Cantt Station some three years ago.

Raza is quick to point out that children in his work are above barriers of nationalities and geography. "Poverty strikes the children the same way no matter where they live," he said, adding that the children in his work belong as much to Syria and other places as they belong to Pakistan.



Hunger is a recurring theme in Raza's paintings. Kids queued up with baskets in hand showing stars and moons and Rs1,000 note showing food items on Quaid's face, Raza has shown a reality that hits one hard.

"For us normal people, we can afford to think beyond food as in how to be creative with our chores. But for these children, it's all about survival so much so that a currency note is simply a means for them to get food," explained the mural artist.

Speaking in detail about his inspirations, Raza said that as a freelance mural artist when he's working on projects it's a habit of his to hang out at local tea dhabas in the evening with friends.

"It is there where you find these children and when you speak to them you get to learn so many stories," he said. 'Lucid Dreams' also gives a glimpse of what goes on in the minds of all those who spend time on roads and work beyond their years. A man sleeping on a foot path on what appears to be a bed of clouds and a little girl drawing butterflies with a wistful look in the eye, Raza's work tells a viewer about their stories, stressing the fact that these are individuals just like we are, surviving under totally different circumstances.

Through the use of acrylic based emulsion, the pictures that he has drawn of their situation are clear and don't fail to establish the point. Today is the last day of the exhibition.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 18^th, 2016.