Rashid Rana’s work at the Karachi Biennale 2019 (KB19) was undeniably one of the highlights of the event. The artist had re-interpreted Caspar David Friedrich’s “Wanderer above the Sea of Fog”, flipping the iconic image on its head in a fantastic subversion of the original painting while simultaneously adding another, far more relevant, thematic d [...]
Narrator of tales in clay
During the first year of our art school education, students were introduced to the art galleries that existed in the city then, one of them being Chawkandi, where Sheherezade Alam was showing her work. The gallery was a bit dark with spot lights focusing on the artefacts, pronouncing the forms and surfaces. That was t [...]
The art of creating experiences that bring meaning, culture and people together has been a passion for Pomme Amina Afzal. Over the last 10 years, her company Phenomena has worked to execute projects and events for philanthropy, education, fashion, galleries and corporations. She aligned her creativity with art direction and curation managing a var [...]
Risham Syed: Blackbirding
The visual language of colonial heritage embodied in the architecture or mundane ornaments of our lives is often unnoticed. Perhaps it is because we r [...]
Noorjehan Bilgrami: The Avant-Garde
Noorjehan Bilgrami in her Sri Lanka studio.
A painter, textile designer, gallery owner, entrepreneur, curator, researcher, educationist and a social a [...]
In Conversation with Salima Hashmi
Salima Hashmi is an acclaimed artist, writer and the Founding Dean of the School of Visual Arts & Design at the Beaconhouse National University, L [...]
Tazeen Qayyum: The Anatomy of Discomfort
There is a price to pay for apathy. One thinks of poor Gregor in Kafka’s ‘Metamorphosis’, who wakes up as a giant cockroach, unable to act and eventua [...]
Rashid Rana’s work at the Karachi Biennale 2019 (KB19) was undeniably one of the highlights of the event. The artist had re-interpreted Caspar David Friedrich’s “Wanderer above the Sea of Fog”, flipping the iconic image on its head in a fantastic subversion of the original painting while simultaneously adding another, far more relevant, thematic d [...]
When most people think of technology, a 5000 year-old instrument is perhaps the last thing that comes to mind. Yet, the borindo, an instrument which has miraculously escaped cultural extinction, is at the centre of the Karachi Biennale’s (KB22) Jury Prize winning tech-based installation. Located at the NED University (City Campus), the work “Micro [...]
When I tell Marc Lee that his work reminds me of a Black Mirror episode come to life he grins earnestly from ear to ear. His extensive catalogue of art installations over the years have wrestled with both the perils and merits of technology, ruminating upon how it can be a source of salvation for some and damnation for others. It is therefore easy [...]
If you have tears
'If you have tears' is a group show curated by a veteran art critic Quddus Mirza. A wonderful curation in May was conceived around the idea [...]
Microcosm 4
Opened at AAN Gandhara Gallery, Microcosm 4 brought a number of established and budding artists together. The group show, held at [...]
Ambivalence
A solo show by Waseem Ahmed opened at Sanat Initiative on April 6th, 2021 represented a powerfully evocative array of paintings on display. [...]
Past Present Future
Past Present Future is the inaugural show that marks the beginning of Koel Gallery & O Art Space’s collaborative venture. The significance of this [...]