Message for peace: A feminist response to war on terror

Curator says it took a month to put the show together.

LAHORE:

“Phool Mera Watan is a feminist response to the war against terror in Waziristan,” says artist Farida Batool, known for her use of lenticular technique.

Her exhibition, about 19.5 x 29.5 inches, has 22 pictures put together to form a three dimensional image of a child floating amidst flowers against the backdrop of a map of Waziristan. Batool says she has used an image of her son when he was 75 days old.

“I took his picture and some pictures of the map and the flowers off Google. The images have been placed together using the lenticular technique, which gives it a 3-D appeal. It is a message of peace. Batool says the work is feminine in the sense that a man’s response is straight forward, while a woman is expected to be more tactful in a similar situation.

Batool created the piece in 2009 but has displayed it for the first time in Lahore.

The exhibition titled Women of Substance opened at Rohtas 2 Art Gallery in Model Town. It features 18 pieces by 12 artists with a focus on femininity and women’s role as homemakers. Some pieces have been taken from personal collections of gallery owner Salima Hashmi and artists Naazish Ataullah and Rashid Rana. The rest have been contributed by the artists.

Risham Syed, a 2012 Abraaj prize winner, is displaying The Cozy Cottage. The 60 x 60 inches piece produced in 2008 and contributed for the display by Rana Rashid has a cross-stitched cottage and fake plastic grass. I have played upon the historic notion that women are the homemakers. Embroidery is an activity women are associated with. The fake grass aims at giving a vibe of warmth and a cozy cottage, says Risham Syed who has been exhibiting his work since 1994.

Cross-stitch, the most basic form of embroidery, has been magnified and has resulted in a “pixel-like appeal”.

An installation  Offensively Defensive  by Karachi-based artist Adeela Suleman has been made using steel cutlery. It is an ironic comment on death. The steel has been molded to form a protective gear. It looks like protective gear but if one wears it, it will not provide any protection, said Suleman.

The installation has been displayed in Thailand (by Salima Hashmi) but is on display in Lahore for the first time. Rohtas 2 curator Asad Hayee said most of the 12 women artists have been Salima Hashmi’s students or colleagues during her time at the National College of Arts. Only Adeela Suleman and Nazia Khan, both Karachi-based, have not been her students but Ms Hashmi has followed their works closely.

Hayee said it took about a month to correspond with the artists and collectors to put together the show.

Only four of the 12 artists are Lahore-based. The rest are from Karachi, the US, Paris, New Delhi and London. “It represents different aspects of femininity, domestic issues or the female body form,” he said.

US-based Talha Rathore’s work features personal routes marked with red ink on the map of the New York city. Paris-based artist Sabina Gillani’s work features plight of rural Pakistani women depicted through digital prints. England-based Faiza Butt’s work is also exhibited.

Masooma Syed, a Delhi-based artist, has contributed a piece showcasing a personal comment on perceptions of women across the world.

The exhibition will run until January 12.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 6^th, 2013.