Facilitating dialogue: The shadow under our flag

Curator says exhibition organised to engage in necessary conversations

LAHORE:

Is Saye Ke Parcham Taley (The Shadow Under Our Flag)—an exhibition featuring work of seven artists, photos by street children and an installation is underway at 39-K Gallery.

“The show has been set up to engage in difficult but necessary conversations,” Abdullah Qureshi, who has curated the exhibition together with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Junior, told The Express Tribune. Mohan Das, who has showcased three acrylic-on-canvas paintings, said he used to work as a billboard, rickshaw and truck painter in Hyderabad. “I still remember when I used to paint the backs of the rickshaws. The paintings were usually V-shaped. This is why two of my paintings are V-shaped,” he said. Das said most of his work was linked to his past.

“I’m basically a painter. But this time around I have made collages from film posters,” Ahmed Ali Manganhar, who has displayed seven collages at the exhibit, said. Manganhar said he used to frequent Royal Park to see billboards and posters of films while studying at the National College of Arts (NCA). He said he had always thought they were masterpieces. “With the passage of time, film billboards and posters started disappearing,” Manganhar said. He said this had left him dejected. Manganhar said he had then gone to Royal Park, met people associated with the art and procured scores of yesteryear film posters. “I see the posters as symbols of popular Pakistani art. Instead of reproducing them, I change them into abstract art,” he said.

“Young Street Photographers—sprung from my mother’s community centre in 71 Clifton,” Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Junior said. He said underprivileged children came to learn English, mathematics, science and art there. Bhutto said he had provided the children with disposable cameras in connection with an art programme at the centre. “At least one photo from every child is selected for an exhibition at our community centre. Since then the project has extended beyond the centre to other areas of Karachi,” he said. Bhutto said all of the children’s work depicted something different. He said the children had really excelled when they were permitted to take the cameras home with them. “I was left amazed when we received the first results. Their photos are on par with those of any trained street photographer,” Bhutto said.

Syrian-German Artist Rabi Georges created a special performance piece on the Syria imbroglio. Georges said he had thought it would be best to do something premised on what was transpiring in Syria after being informed about the topic for this year’s THAAP Conference.  “It was extremely difficult for me to depict what has been happening there in a befitting manner. Whatever I performed cannot possibly mirror events there. Hence, I thought the best way to show someone was to capture the emotion and capture the audience’s attention through it,” he said. Georges said he had to find the right language to avoid causing offence.

He said his performance drew heavily on symbolism. “I used four vessels to portray four years of warfare. Each one contained a material that symbolised a thing associated with conflict. Black symbolised burnt objects, red blood, water refugees and sand buildings reduced to rubble,” Georges said.  Over his performance, he broke all the bottles before walking away.

The show, which commenced on November 8 in conjunction with the 6th International THAAP Conference, will conclude today (Wednesday).

Published in The Express Tribune, November 18^th, 2015.