Buzkashi, also known as Kokpar, is a bloodcurdling sport that is popular with the Hazaras, Pashtuns, Kazakhs and Uzbeks, among others. Played on horseback like polo, the strenuous game requires a headless goat carcass to be competitively forced towards a goal. During the harsh duel which gets rough, the audience experiences a large variety of captivating moments which, for an artist, are irresistible. Transforming the rich visual experience into paintings, thus, becomes a compulsive ritual that the artist must undertake.

Pursuing the titillating subject of Buzkashi, Shan Amrohvi, an impassioned painter of the breathtaking manoeuvres of the game, has put together an exhibition of 24 oil and acrylic-on-canvas paintings at the Citi Art Gallery, Karachi, which also include a few bonus works of his abstracts. While at the game pavilion in Gilgit, Amrohvi constantly sketches the brisk pre-emptive movements when the fierce battle amongst opponent groups of Buzkashi is in progress.

According to the artist, the most challenging aspect of the Buzkashi paintings is the depiction of tactical supremacy, human vigil and agility of the beast, which are pivotal to the game’s conduct. What excites the artist the most are the clouds of dust that are left in the wake of the galloping horses creating a dramatic scene of power, force, unnerving retaliation and fierce competition. When Amrohvi transfers these sketches to canvas, the paintings recreate the ambience of aggression and power-play, portraying the true spirit of the game.

The viewers are spontaneously drawn into the dynamics of the moving subjects through the vortices of dust and the sound of the pounding hoofs, making it a pleasurable experience. The use of vibrant primaries in paintings enhances the game’s fervour and endorses an Eastern identity to the paintings. The profuse use of bright warm colours reflects on the region’s temperate climate and imparts exceptional distinctiveness to the paintings.

Amongst the abstracts, the painting of the old banyan tree with its plentiful tonal variations, speaks endlessly about the tree’s nostalgic characteristics. For the young artist, the intimidating shadows of the banyan tree next to his house were a favourite spot for fun and frolic with friends. When the indiscriminate growth of its roots started to inflict damage to the homes and power lines, it had to be felled. Amrohvi, deeply touched by the unavoidable downing of the tree, could not help but to recall the halcyon childhood days through paints. The lingering memories of the artist frequently emerge as vivid colours on canvas, some to accentuate the exciting moments and others to purge his tacit anguish.

According to the curator of the exhibition, Salim Ahmed, who is determined to promote art that has potential, the extraordinary work of Amrohvi is effectively engaging for its power-packed manifestation of anatomical dynamics, drapery and paraphernalia, both of the riders and the horses. The superb equestrian articulations composed by the artist on stormy landscapes, hold definite promise for a prolific future in terms of the true preservation of indigenous heritage.

An alumnus of the North City School of Arts, Karachi, Amrohvi is currently an in-house artist and interior designer with the Darul Sehat Hospital.