Nine artists have come together at The Drawing Room art gallery to showcase their work titled Letters to Taseer that began on Monday.
The collaborative exhibition contains paintings, screen prints, installations and interactive models related to the slain governor Salmaan Taseer in one way or the other.
The participating artists are Adeeluz Zafar, Rashid Rana, Amjad Ali Talpur, RM Naeem, Irfan Hassan, Muddassir Manzoor, Aakif Suri, Sana Arjumand and Ayesha Jatoi.
Sanam Taseer, the gallery owner, reminisced how her father showed interest in opening an art gallery three years ago. She said, “I didn’t think it was a great climate to open a gallery, but his spirit helped me build this space. Today, each piece here cherishes his memory and vitality.”
Zafar’s piece highlights the lack of freedom of speech in Pakistan. The image is of a tightly wrapped fish net with a shark inside.
He said the image symbolised Salmaan Taseer’s spirit. “Only a shark can make its presence known even in the darkest of places,” he said.
Rana’s Red Carpet is a collage of images from a slaughter house that make a Persian rug. Two women sit in front of the rug, cutting onions, to make the viewers “shed a tear for Salmaan Taseer.”
Jatoi’s minimalistic lettered wall spoke volumes of the creativity in her work. The words on the wall said, “Even if the image is not there, the words will always be there.”
Jatoi said, “Salmaan Taseer may be gone but the ideas he stood for remain. This is important for us to know.”
“Umar Butt is a fabulous curator,” Qudsia Raheem, a visitor said. She said the space was well utilised and the homogeneity of the theme put the works in perspective.
The exhibition will continue till January 28.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 24th, 2012.
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