August 25, 2007

 Sohni Dharti as a mix-media show employed interactive exchange to further the dialogue on the concept of ‘Shanaakht’ (identity)

Unlike lighthearted often frivolous jubilations marking Independence Day celebrations, Shanaakht, a multi media festival at the Karachi Arts Council, distinguished itself by offering audiences diverse forms of entertaining, engaging and exploratory events revolving around the complex issue of national ‘identity’. Organised by the Citizens Archive of Pakistan (CAP) the festival was spread over several programs centralising on the genres of audio, visual and performing arts. The art exhibition emanating from this show titled ‘Sohni Dharti’ was set up in the Gulrang Hall of the Arts Council. It was arranged in collaboration with VASL, an International Artists Collective largely responsible for the currency of new and mix-media expression in Pakistan. Adeela Suleman sculptor, art educator and senior member of VASL had taken on the onerous task of planning, curating and presenting the show.

Sohni Dharti’s populist stance is a radical move. Fine arts patronised by and confined largely to elitist circles is seldom so easily accessible to the common man and to exhibit in a public venue rather than regular gallery surroundings was a deliberate choice on the part of the organisers. They need to be lauded for handling the logistics of setting up open air and closed circuit multi — media installations and managing their related activities within the Arts Council premises and exhibiting at Gulrang originally an informal cafeteria space. For a public that still associates art with oil on canvas and watercolour on paper, providing them a fare of conceptually motivated, digitally manned, multi media expression is an advanced exercise — but perhaps a necessary one. Such exhibitions will not only acclimatise the general public to the changing face of art but also jog their cognitive abilities by involving them as active participants. In art of this nature they are not expected to ‘see’ as passive onlookers but perceive the exhibit as an event or situation. Sohni Dharti as a mix-media show played on this interactive exchange to further the dialogue on the concept of ‘Shanaakht’ with the public.

The art on display, by a special selection of seventeen artists “openly embracing all media” was a mix of audio, video and sound installations, sculpture, painting, photography and prints. As almost all the artists were young with a penchant for experimental work and one expected some fresh perspectives and novel expressions to come forth. The large floor space leading towards Gulrang was well utilised by Ahsan Iqbal for his site specific work in progress. Using broad strips of red canvas tape he had constructed a meandering trail dividing the floor space much like the LoC separating Pakistan from its eastern neighbour. The colour red signified blood and the trail interrupted, after a certain length, by a drain cover appeared as if it was exhausting itself into the manhole — an oblique comment on Partition and lives lost in vain — a memory that still mars identity issues.

Conceptually complex at first glance most works revealed themselves on engagement. Asim Butt’s oil on canvas tableau titled ‘Tutti Frutti’ was one such piece. The artist had used his draughtsmanship abilities and knowledge of anatomy to skillfully construct a pre and post Partition scenario. Playing with see through effects he had merged historical images with present day figuration set on an antiquated map. This juxtaposition of past and present addressed the complexity of developing an identity from various angles. Are we as a people caught in a time warp — or shackled to tradition — or victims of historical mishaps? The artwork was open to independent inquiry.

Auj Khan’s rather shabby but very red ‘Hot Seat’ set against an (acrylic on canvas) army camouflage print backdrop was self explanatory. The raring, ambition personified horse symbol, amidst veiled sterling and dollar currency icons and images of Bush and Blair as restraining agents spoke of our precarious military might and the hidden hand of western intervention.

The pivotal seat of power was also the subject of Bani Abadi’s ‘The Address’. Recreating the set of table, chair, discreet vase of flowers and the Quaid’s national photograph in the background, (usually arranged for heads of state during their address to the nation on television), she made her point by leaving the seat empty. She had locked the image on a television screen placed in the hall. The static image invited debate on the leadership vacuum we had had since the death of Quaid-i-Azam.

Images of open scissors, ready to snap, stenciled all over the canvas in sludgy army greens screamed secession. Zahid Hussain had skillfully manipulated the cut and divide inference of scissors. Munawar Ali’s clay and copper objects supposedly two halves of a whole rent asunder objectified partition very clearly also as on the surface both had similar appearances. The twist lay in the difference between clay and copper. Placed on a cushion splashed with blood the evocation was palpable but the piece deserved a pronounced display. Mahbub Shah’s ‘Sabz Parcham’ in varying tonalities of green can be interpreted as a lack of consensus on crucial national issues. As a nation we vehemently purport many hues and shades of opinions and fail to maintain a united front. Fareda Batool’s lenticular print ‘Nai Reesan Lahore Dyan’ projected an ill-kempt street scene of shabby high rise buildings. On account of the biconvex nature of the print one could actually feel the young rope skipping girl in the front, galloping forward. The work critiques unregulated urban sprawl. Taken symbolically it alludes to our rapid progression towards an uncertain, disparate sense of modernity. Ahmed Manganhar’s blurred chalk drawings were hazy portraits of Muslim literati of the 1900’s. Archaic imagery, tools and media sits uncomfortably in a high tech, digitised era — somewhat similar to our national and international status.

An animated video by Marium Sohail called ‘Refining Islamabad 2006,’ a 6-inch LCD display was a new take, but an apt one on our political identity. The artist explains, “The video ‘Refining’ is a speeded run through of photographs taken by me in Islamabad on the 23rd of March 2005 (the day of the National Day Parade, being broadcast live on TV) and then on the 3rd of March 2006 (the day President Bush visited Pakistan and met with President Musharraf).”

The video has then been shot off a computer screen while the pictures are being viewed, repeatedly, back and forth, almost like a neurotic activity. The term ‘refining’ appears on the screen as the software runs through the pictures, as a default action in the popular picture viewing software called Picasa, which refines each image as you see it. The artist is originally from Islamabad and has been documenting various aspects of the city since 2001.

Under a tree in the forecourt of Gulrang Seema Nusrat performed an interactive piece called “Altamas-e-Dua, (A prayer when all else fails) by distributing paper flags amongst the public. Ayaz Jokhio’s interactive piece centered on hand prints as identity icons. The audience was invited to cast their impressions on tablets displayed on the Arts Council walls.

The audio piece from an ongoing project by Sophie Ernst (Lahore/Berlin) 2007 was a narration of subjects from India and Pakistan talking about the homes they left behind at the time of Partition.

It was of great significance that the Indus Valley School of Art, Karachi agreed to lend the famous Bashir Mirza mural ‘The last train from Amritsar’ to CAP which went on public display at this event for the first time as a tribute not just to the sacrifices made on partition but also to the late master of Pakistan.

Events of this nature designed for viewer participation are few and far between and crowd involvement is negligible at the moment but if there is a rapid succession of such programs interaction is bound to increase as the will to engage and exercise ones right to think is now on the rise. The electronic media has already nudged awareness levels and public participation is very much in keeping with the present emphasis on democracy. Stimulating dialogue, discourse and interaction can lead to a better understanding of ones identity. VASL’s main motive behind ‘Sohni Dharti’ was to utilise its art resources to put together a broad array of contemporary work that functions around themes and concerns surrounding Pakistan as it marks its 60 years and its attempt to stir the perceptions of the people needs to be acknowledged.