Dynamic images, narratives mark Yeh Hai Karachi’s concluding day

Published October 24, 2016
With the exhibits hung high from the ceiling at the Cantonment railway station, passengers and visitors hardly notice them.—Anis Hamdani / White Star
With the exhibits hung high from the ceiling at the Cantonment railway station, passengers and visitors hardly notice them.—Anis Hamdani / White Star

KARACHI: On the concluding day of the film and photo exhibition titled Yeh Hai Karachi, dynamic images and narratives were projected onto screens with documentary films taking centre stage. Karachi and its inhabitants once again were the shining stars of the attempts by amateur photographers and filmmakers who brought to the fore their vision, however utopic or distorted, of the metropolis.

The exhibition showcased the work of 372 students from across the city, “created over two intensive cycles of photography and film workshops … towards the themes of peace, tolerance and global citizenship”. It spilled over from within the confines of the traditional gallery and the work was also showcased at five public buildings with the parallel spaces, including Cantt railway station, Civil Hospital, NJV School courtyard, Lady Dufferin Hospital, City railway station and Pakistan Chowk.

However, the exhibit at the Cantt railway station was a letdown. Considering that it is situated at the heart of the city and is visited by a large cross section of society, including visitors from the rest of the country, the area dedicated to the display was not given the space and conceptualisation it deserved. The few photographs displayed and hung on the main platform blend in with the constructed environment to the extent of visitors becoming oblivious to them. In fact, when many from the crowd were asked about the photos, they were surprised to notice that an exhibition had been put up and remarked that a more concrete arrangement would have been appreciated.

Film screenings at the Commune garnered a large audience, who were excited to witness the final product of those who had worked day and night to present nuggets of Karachi and the resilient voices that have emerged from it.

The film Rosie Painter, directed by Ali Raza, was one of the more powerful films to emerge from Yeh Hai Karachi. Charting the life of Rosie from a dynamic and confident women, to being abused by her husband and eventually turned away with her three children, the documentary film was exceptionally made. Rosie’s resilience in the face of trials and tribulations and her learning the craft of painting words and images on walls, buses and the likes, was gripping. Raza should be credited for subtly depicting the harrowing life of Rosie without the narrative being dramatized to whet the appetite of the audience.

Several of the other films screened also picked up contemporary themes. Tales from Lyari, oppression of marginalised communities, personal vignettes of the working class and the differently abled were some of the subjects picked up. While some of the stories were narrated with the necessary sensitivity, others came off as very rushed and didactic, with some even seemingly contrived.

The film screenings were followed by a public readings session in which one of the guests was noted Karachi-based painter and writer Rumana Husain, who read out from her book Street Smart: Professionals on the Street.

Despite ‘The School of Writing’ being the creative force behind Yeh Hai Karachi, and the PeaceNiche team curating it, the exhibition did not live up to the hype and if this enterprise is to become a regular happening and pull in larger crowds, it must incorporate a larger canvas to attract attention and better execution.

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2016

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