Trail of tears: Mourn the loss of humanity with ‘Shama Jalti Rahi’ by Julius John Alam

Exhibition takes the viewers on a journey from apathy to empathy

KARACHI: Violence plays such an integral role in our everyday lives that we have to a large extent become desensitised to it.

Koel Gallery’s new exhibition titled, ‘Shama Jalti Rahi [Candles kept on Burning]’ discomforts the viewers and serves as a stark reminder of the grueling reality that continues to haunt us.

Around 51 people have been killed in Pakistan over blasphemy allegations since 1980, according to the estimates shared by artist Julius John Alam. To remember these victims of sheer brutality, he has made equal sized 51 books using latha, the fabric used to wrap a dead body before burial.

The image of the books, some open some closed, perhaps symbolises bodies of victims laid out before their burial. The books are stitched by a single red thread which in indictive of the violence faced by people in their everyday lives. The exhibition appears as a lament on humanity and helps viewers feel the pain of those who lost their lives.



For Alam, the books serve as “testaments of love, made sacred through the ritual of tearing the cloth and stitching it together with care. The viewers join in mourning the loss of these lives by reading the surface of the empty pages.”

“Whenever we lose someone, we tend to keep something to remember them by as safekeeping. This is my way of keeping something of the lives that were lost,” he explains.

“The exhibition endeavours to take viewers on a journey from apathy to empathy,” he remarked while speaking to The Express Tribune. “I do not hope for a dramatic change in the viewer through these experiences, but simply nurture goodness….. for other human beings,” he said in his statement.

The artist’s strength lies in his ability to translate his experience as a member of minority community and evoke stark images using minimal materials. The subtleness of the artwork speaks much louder than words or actions.

The exhibition focuses the pain of others and countering hate through love, said Alam. “While violence against anyone exposes the vulnerability of human life, those who have limited means of self-­defence are particularly susceptible to it,” he writes in his statement highlighting the need to become empathetic towards the cause of marginalised communities.



Alam belongs to Kot Lakhpat and recently completed his Master’s from Parsons School of Design and shifted back to the country. This is his first solo show in the country since he returned.

The show will continue till August 6.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 30^th, 2016.