The link between art and geography is integral and complex and has existed as long as art itself. ‘The Highway’, curated by Riffat Alvi and co-curated by Habib Phulpoto and S.M. Raza recently opened at the VM Art Gallery, Karachi and focused on this most intimate of connections.

The show, which features 10 artists from Karachi and 10 artists from interior Sindh, was conceived of when Phulpoto and Raza visited the Centre of Excellence in Arts and Design Jamshoro’s thesis show. This is the first curatorial undertaking for the two young co-curators, and under the guidance of veteran curator and Director of the VM Art Gallery, Alvi, they have succeeded in creating a harmonious landscape out of the various cultures, unique experiences and fractured environmental impetuses that motivated the work of these 20 young artists.

Artists Manisha Jilani, Muneeb Khanzada, Anam Shakil Khan and Batool Zehra use memory as their medium, creating fractured landscapes that act as photos that the artists see, and that we — the viewers — conceptualise.

A curated show builds bridges between Karachi and Jamshoro

Sahar Shah Rizvi, Zeeshan Memon and Sheema Khan’s work use visual metaphors to denote various contributors to society’s gender norms, film stars and love respectively, and the heavy burden that comes with any of these labels. Rizvi’s ants, created out of waif-like, hair-thin strokes are particularly striking in their aesthetic and allegorical values.

Fran Abdul Mateen’s works, with its sketchy transient quality, create portraits that quite literally are in flux. The space that they inhabit is neither Jamshoro nor Karachi. It’s a third space — a new world that is developed in the gallery around the work and viewers — a new reality.

Agha Jandan’s work is striking because of his chosen media — a traditional chalkboard. A teacher by profession, Jandan’s work effectively captures the exciting and innovative context that cross collaborative shows such as “Highway” create.

Most individual in her choice of medium, Sana Burney’s work is an installation piece using chenaks (teapots) that have been suspended from the ceiling. This installation integrated two cities by hand-drawn representations of well-known and famous landmarks. It’s almost as if Burney is inviting the viewer to come and discuss the multicultural theme of the show with her — over a cup of tea.

In terms of cultural aesthetics and visuals, Karachi is a metropolitan city whereas Jamshoro is more pastoral and less populated. It is the curators’ belief that this show — by bringing artists together on one platform to exhibit their unique experiences — will create a dialogue between two different cultures and that this dialogue will pave the way to future opportunities for all.

What is also interesting is that Phulpoto and Raza chose Karachi as the place to exhibit this work. Not dissimilar to the influence that space and geography had on the work of the exhibiting artists, Karachi too creates a context for this work to be viewed in. The audiences attracted by this megalopolis are not merely observers, but fully embodied actors, within and upon the visual landscape, contributing to the overarching message of the show that has a unique contemporary significance because of its chosen location. The show does a magnificent job of reducing the space between here and there.

“New Geometry” was exhibited at the VM Art Gallery Karachi from January 2 till January 12, 2017.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, January 15th, 2017