Ashow presently on at the Indus Valley School Art Gallery, Karachi, brings the work of six artists, each of which is a very individualistic and distinct narrative. Saba Khan, Amra Khan, Sara Khan Pathan, Sara Khan, Maria Khan and Atif Khan are in the show, ‘My Name Is …’ , curated by Hajra Haider Karrar. The curatorial thrust is on the location of individual identities against
the backdrop of the stereotypical, which she states, simplify the characteristics of a community. Taking the notion of the last name Khan, she came to select the artists.

As with any show, it is necessary to locate the content/context of curatorial enquiry, and also the nature of cross conversations between works in their particular physical proximity in a gallery. Hajra’s primary premise may be about taking artists with the name Khan, and which may have a popular appeal such as the recent Bollywood film, My Name is Khan with Shahrukh Khan; how it portrays or conveys an
enquiry into the name Khan, or what it might be associated with, is ambiguous.

Sara Khan Pathan, is an exception who addresses the curatorial frame, using the walnut shell as a hat on famous Khans such as Ayub Khan, Imran Khan etc.; the artist manipulating a common stereotype by reinforcing it. Like a collection of old family photos (sepia in this case), she extracts the personal from the political. But beyond what appears to be a narrow frame to locate cultural identity versus individual identity, it is the individuality of the personal narratives that forms the core of the show.

Sara Khan’s ‘Free fall’, and Amra Khan’s ‘Blubber lady’ and ‘Poker face’, are among other intriguing works that challenge social taboos, gender/physical stereotypes. Aesthetically, the dynamics on the relationship between painting and drawing, the ‘finished’ and ‘unfinished’ pertains to the legitimacy of a mark as a signifier of the personal as well as the social (and political).

Personal and private, as these conversations appear, are placed with enough room to breathe in the physical space of the gallery. An otherwise common prerequisite, this is an aspect disregarded by commercial galleries, so that a maximum number of art works are displayed with the target of being sold. Mainstream galleries also happen to be commercial galleries and gallerists have often had to compromise on the sales, especially in the context of curated shows, where the sales have not been the most important consideration for the curator.

In a milieu where curatorial fees is negligible, where artists’ fee does not exist, where funds for catalogue essays and printing charges are not supported by galleries unless there are big names involved. There are no councils funding (joke) any of these crucial factors that help in extending the discursive dialogue. Therefore spaces such as the IVS Gallery and the KSA Gallery, across the bridge, can contribute under the umbrella of their respective institutions.

Essays should ideally supplement each curatorial initiative as opposed to publicity pages that only act as publicity facilitators. It should not matter what a critic thinks about a show, but what he/she contributes in terms of extending the discursive dialogue of an artist’s/curator’s narrative. This is the only way that location of ‘self’, ‘other’ and culture, which Hajra refers to, can be brought into a sustained discussion.