In Aap Beeti, a recent solo exhibition of paintings by Meher Afroz at Karachi’s Chawkandi Art Gallery, the artist recalls her own journey. The essence of Afroz’s experiences and philosophy is visible in these artworks. The refinement and sensitivity with which the narrative unfolds indicates clarity. It is an assurance that this is a new point of arrival for the artist.

The journey unfolds many of the forms, surface textures and conceptual concerns of Afroz’s earlier works. These are the ‘Mask and Puppet’ (1988-89), ‘Portrait’ (1990-91), ‘Amulet’ (1992-93), ‘Zindaan’ (2001), ‘Pindaar’ (2002-03), ‘Dastawez’ (2007) and ‘Naqsh-bar-Aab’ (2012). Painterly forms and rich textural surfaces have been the focus of her work for the last four decades. But there is a new awareness in her that the paintings are meant to be read and not simply to be viewed. How, then, do we begin to read what has been meant to be seen and felt? It is the artist who initiates this re-reading as she invites the viewer into reading an autobiography. In Aap Beeti, she consolidates her position as social commentator by defining the role of the artist, indexing her own life.

It is the line engraved into the paint and surfaces of wood in the earlier works such as ‘Amulet’, that the mark is now understood also as a form of text. It is her treatise, a critique of injustice in the distribution of resources by the state, conveying that people resort to amulets for protection.

Artist Meher Afroz consolidates her position as a social commentator by indexing her own life

In other paintings and etchings, she refers to the reading of a face, as a ‘safha’ in Urdu, a page that tells a story (Portrait series) and hypocrisy (Mask series). The prick of pin marks that she places at equal intervals within the squares of her current paintings as divisions, can be read as imprints of pain and devotion — pain that elevates the artist to the level of ishq. Afroz relies on the writings of Mir Anis and Hilal Naqvi, finding more affinity with their text than the vocabulary of contemporary visual art. She speaks of being caught in the grip of a storm, a confusion or “afra tafri” as we read these words by Jaun Elia inscribed on the wall.

Hum aandheeon ke bann mein kisi karwaan ke thay
Jaanay kahaan say aaye hain jaaney kahaan ke thay

The reference here would also be to her migration from India and a sense of dislocation.

Words in Urdu, such as ishq (love), aks (reflection) and many others have been embedded in Afroz’s imagery since the mid-2000s. These have been the more visible clues into the metaphors of love and sacrifice from the narrative of Karbala that are important anchors for her.

In the ‘Dastawez’ series, she refers to Faiz Ahmad Faiz’s Sar-i-Waadi-i-Sina (1971), poems written on the occasion of the firing on Karachiites protesting against the rigged election of Ayub Khan as president. Dastawez was shown in 2007, alluding to the on-going killings in Karachi, particularly of May 12. In Faiz, the artist found affinity with symbols of sacrifice and morality.

The words musafat (from safar or journey) and khaamoshi (quiet or silence) are inscribed in the current work. Afroz, being a post-modern minimalist, seems to have selected these through meticulous scrutiny. Words, she says, are loaded and hold many metaphors.

Aap Beeti is an opening of the self and her relation to the mileu, which is referred to as aandhi or storm. The metaphors of time, the day and night (visible in the division of black and white in the paintings), a silver crease that balances against the background in graphite, these are the stages of her own journey. The luminosity of the silver and gold paint reflects the self-awareness that withstands the storm.

“Aap Beeti” was displayed at the Chawkandi Art Gallery in Karachi from May 14 to May 18, 2018

Published in Dawn, EOS, June 3rd, 2018