LAHORE: An art exhibition, titled ‘City of Dreams and Nightmares,’ was inaugurated at the Alhamra Arts Council on Tuesday with a focus on urban and semi-urban parts of Lahore and its people.

The individual and collaborative pieces on display are by alumni of the National College of Arts (NCA) and architects, Bibi Hajra Cheema and Sachal Rizvi. The art pieces in various mediums depict a wide array of situations.

Sachal’s work revolves around spaces, inspired by the architecture of the Mughals, rounded domes as well as archways built in ordinary houses.

He gives minute details of the buildings, with each line and every corner carefully shown but even in this process, he plays around with dimensions and angles. The result is something like a dream – both fearsome and absurd. His buildings seem domineering rather than welcoming. The pen work is so intricate that it appears claustrophobic. But in some parts of the same scene, there are empty white spaces, signifying literally nothing.

“When I draw, everything comes out of my mind. I do not think of what I am making – it happens on its own,” says Sachal. “My work is open to interpretation. The white spaces are a part of my consciousness.”

Even the collaborative pieces, Sachal has worked on the white spaces of the urban city, depicting both semi-urban areas and downtown.

It is Hajra who has thrown in the colour – even in the monochromatic pieces – by adding characters to it.

Hajra’s characters are as wildly drawn as Sachal’s buildings. There are no rules when it comes to drawing the human form and in her individual work, which is coloured, Hajra’s strokes are bold and prominent while her concepts are daring with hilarious black humour.

She draws situations from everyday life. A wedding depicts various happenings. There is a heavily made-up bride on the stage while the groom tries to flirt. There is the stern looking but philandering old man who while listening to someone is actually watching a young girl nearby.

‘Bazaar Transmission’ shows a situation where she has even put in some dialogues for each of the characters somewhere in the old city.

Hajra works with multiple situations in the same setting. There is also the depiction of the ‘Gynecology department on low-fee Thursday’ where loads of women are in for a check-up. ‘Safia Clinic’ portrays abortion in one of small-time clinics along the busy city roads, as Hajra puts it, where working class women come for abortions.

As she has majored in Urban Studies, Hajra says she has been in constant touch with these characters from real life and much of her observations stem from them. Being part of the Feminist Collective Lahore, she also portrays women prominently. ‘Canal Day Doojay Paar’ and Lala Land are her other prominent pieces.

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2018