KARACHI: Urbanisation and technological development go hand in hand. Both signify growth. But compared to the latter, the former has socio-cultural ramifications that the artist community cannot ignore. It often comes at a cost of tradition and values. Although an exhibition of artist Faisal Anwar’s artworks titled Tracing Cities 1: Karachi that began at the Canvas Art Gallery doesn’t precisely focus on this aspect of human progress, it does try to get the hang of the ‘meanings’ that the changing landscapes of big cities throw at us.

The exhibition has the city of Karachi as its protagonist. As we all know, over the years, the megapolis has changed shape and form as if it’s an ongoing lowbrow construction project. Those who have seen the Karachi of yore rue its present-day architectural spread. So Anwar puts things in the framework of ‘neo-tech mindsets’. This is a loaded idea. ‘Mindsets’ is the key word here. In order to understand it, he makes space and movement with reference to public-private ownership as his subject. The subject is examined by virtue of multiple mediums that include mixed media installations, 3D mapping, videos and pure pigment on cotton rag paper etc. It is the mediums that enable the artist to crack, to a certain degree, the horizontal and vertical movement of the city.

The first two exhibits are video installations. Exhibit one looks at the Saddar region and exhibit two at the Orangi area. The visuals are marked by the slow pace with which the camera captures the images of the two areas. The images are familiar to the viewer. The only difference is: the viewer can now single out the factors that put Saddar and Orangi into a contemporary setting. And it’s a thought-provoking scenario.

The same target (of examination) is achieved with pieces such as ‘Framing Movement’ and ‘Cluster’ with a totally different technique. This time around, the static state of the progress (or is it regression?) makes tracing the city a tad more difficult reality to observe.

By the way, all is not black, white or grey. There are pieces, such as ‘Intersections’, that make the environment colourful. It is up to the viewer to spot the neo-tech mindsets in them.

The exhibition concludes on March 15.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2018