Of femininity and resilience

Karachi is the most diverse city in Pakistan, and that is reflected in its art scene. In the last week, there were three shows, with distinctive themes, but all of which tie in with the city and its inhabitants.

Curated by F.S. Karachiwala at Kayal, the show “I Carry a Mountain With Me,” had a fresh vibe, as it was an outdoor pop-up, a nice change from the white-walled galleries in Karachi. Even the collection of artists Faraz brought together was mostly new artists who work with digital mediums. Other than that, there were some sculptures, paintings, and printmaking work. The show brought together 11 artists, Changez Khan, Fathyma Khalid, F.S. Karachiwala, Hina Tabassum, Luluwa Lokhandwala, Shanzay Sabzwari, S.M. Raza, Syeda Sheeza Ali, Talha Shams, Inshal Tahir, and Umaima Khan.

The theme of this exhibition explored the ongoing conflict in Palestine with a desire to ignite hope through a conversation on resilience and resistance. The curator's own work was a series of digital collages and typography posters featuring the infamous line from Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s poem, “Hum Dekhen Ge.” This revolutionary poetry is from the time of Pakistan’s struggle with military occupation during the time of Zia-ul-Haq. This revolutionary poem carries a strong message of hope and invokes the name of God, who is the Ultimate Authority and shall bring down the thrones of tyrants. This poem resonates well with the Palestinian struggle where their faith has taken a central position in the conflict. It cannot be denied that the apartheid in Palestine is also a religious war because Israel has been actively bombing mosques, closed off Al Aqsa, and Islamophobia is at its peak in the West.

Another work that stood out were three illustrations by Inshaal Tahir, who masterfully used bright colours on a black background, to depict the undying hope of the Palestinian people despite their heartbreaking plight. This hope is something we as Pakistanis try to keep alive despite the injustices and unrest we see in our country. Another artist, Shanzay Sabzwari, used the UK pound and the first Pakistani note to illustrate the colonial and post-colonial struggle that has been going on in South Asia and the rest of the world. She used the techniques of miniature painting and drawing to transform the currencies into a political statement about Britain’s colonial history and its repercussions in the present day.

Menal Bano and Sabeen Yameen's works appear in juxtaposition to one another but also complement each other. Both their works centre around Karachi and their experiences of it. Sabeen Yameen’s work delves into nostalgia for Karachi’s coastline, its hubbub and vibrancy. Sabeen’s signature glimmer appears adorning the waves of Karachi’s beaches in her illustrations, but underneath the breathtaking beauty of the scene is the sad reality of today where the beaches are rapidly being “reclaimed” in the name of development. The once-open seas are now mostly private properties, and the Rule of Commons is being constantly purged upon by the state. Menal Bano brings abstractions to her own experiences in different places in the city, and each painting brings out soft and jarring colours that rightfully depict the polarity that is Karachi.

Lastly, the exhibition “Tasees,” curated by Arshad Faruqi at Koel Gallery was a collection of works by artists who practice traditional Islamic arts in Karachi. It may come as a surprise to many that traditional Islamic arts have anything to do with a modern metropolitan like Karachi. The word tasees means ‘foundation’ in English, and the exhibition draws its inspiration from the necropolis of Makli, only a few kilometres away from Karachi. The architecture of Makli features an exquisite combination of geometric designs with the technique of stone masonry. The style of graves that are found in Makli is, in fact, found in many places in Karachi, such as at the Shrine of Mango Pir, Malir, and Chawkandi. These structures built hundreds of years ago, are even older than the Mughals, and the technique is indigenous to this region. This foundation, or tasees, is the ancestral inheritance of this land that most of us are oblivious to. This ignorance is not surprising because the majority of the inhabitants of Karachi today are fairly recent settlers, and the indigenous people of the land have been pushed to the outskirts of the physical and social landscape of this city.

The most outstanding work in this exhibition is a collective piece by this group. The work is a collection of deconstructions of geometric patterns used by the artists in their individual works. This comes out as a feature piece as one enters the gallery and gives a sneak peek into all artists' works as well as their skills. The artists featured in this group exhibition are Alefiya Abbas Ali, Amna Fraz, Dilshad Asif, Fatimah Agha, Kaniz Fatima, Khalifa Shujauddin, Mehrin Haseeb, Maryam Cheema, Saman Ansari, and Sana Habib. This exhibition boasts an impressive combination of mediums such as watercolour painting, egg tempera painting, gold gilding, miniature painting, parquetry, wood carving, ceramics, naturally dyed fabrics, drawings, installation, etc. All these works are created with techniques true to the practices of local artisans in Pakistan. Each of the artists’ works explores its distinct derivation of the Makli theme, but it emerges in a beautiful symphony.

Karachi’s cultural landscape grows brighter as the city drowns further in darkness due to increasing political unrest, civil unrest, and economic recession. In this way, Karachi truly emerges as the city of light where the light is within the hearts of its dwellers.

Lulu Lokhandwala is a visual artist and researcher. You can follow her work on Instagram at @luluwa.lokhandwala

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