LAHORE: The first edition of artist and activist Lala Rukh’s seminal work, Rupak, which was commissioned by the art world’s most prestigious event, Documenta 14 in 2016, has been acquired by Tate Modern, London.

Rupak is a video animation of qat symbols making a visual score of Rupak Taal played on the tabla. The video is accompanied by 88 drawings marking the progression of the score, in keeping with the artist’s love for music and calligraphy, according to a press release.

This work will remain on display for a year at the Blavatnik Building, Tate Modern. It was exhibited in Athens in 2017 and at Kunsthaus Centre D’Art Pasquart, Switzerland (curated by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York’s Shanay Jhaveri) and Jameel Art Centre, Dubai. The second edition of the work has been acquired by Samdani Art Foundation, Bangladesh and the third by Jameel Art Centre.

Lala Rukh’s work has been travelling extensively in the last few years. It was shown along with legends like Picasso at Centre Pompidou, France in 2108; alongside other prominent artists such as Etel Adnan and Louise Bourgeois at Punta Della Dogana, Venice in 2019; and in an in-depth survey of Feminist Art in three cities in England amongst other exhibitions.

Besides being an artist, Lala Rukh was an educationist, professor at the National College of Arts, who established the MA programme, and a founding member of Women’s Action Forum. She lived and worked in Lahore where she passed away in 2017.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2019