ISLAMABAD: The Indus River carries with it stories from the rich cultural history of the subcontinent but as times have changed, it is said that the river has been losing its power.

This is what Zulfikar Ali Bhutto has tried to shed light on besides highlighting the importance of the river for the region through his new thought provoking works exhibited at Satrang Gallery. The exhibition titled,Bera Paaris the first solo show by Mr Bhutto.

Asma Rashid Khan, founder of the gallery, said: “Bera Paaris Zulfikar’s very first exhibition in Islamabad and the series of multimedia works in the exhibition are a result of the artist’s long-term research project, Bulhan Nameh.

“Zulfikar’s focus is on a particular stretch of the River Indus, in Sukkur, a particularly mystical area with significant shrines and temples. This series of works focuses on the rich cultural and mythological heritage of Sindh, the central space occupied by the River Indus, and its importance for the life that surrounds it.”

The guest of honour at the exhibition was Spanish Ambassador Manuel Durán Giménez-Rico.

“Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s show, which has opened today at the Satrang Gallery is a fantastic exhibition. It is beautiful to look at; it is admirable how he uses traditional techniques like the stitching of Sindh with blue print, with the use of material like cotton, to explain to us the history of the River Indus and the importance it has for the subcontinent,” Mr Manuel said.

“Through the centuries the river has been losing the power it had thousands of years before Christ. With this work, he tries to raise awareness that the river is dying out and as he said, ‘if the river dies, we all die a little with it’. This exhibition is not only something beautiful to look at but also something that makes us think,” the ambassador said.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is a Karachi-based artist and curator whose work resurrects complex histories in the south Asian, south west Asian and north African regions. He unpacks the intersections of religion, storytelling, futurity and environmental degradation through a multi-media practice rooted in printmaking, textile and performance.

Bhutto says, “The Indus has been close to my heart for a very long time. I am from Larkana, very close to Sukkur. I started getting involved with the Sindh Wildlife Department as a volunteer as a teenager and went on my first Dolphin Rescue Mission in 2006. I fell in love with this area of the river. This has been a passion project for me for a very long time. When I went to grad school, I left it and the projects I did ended up focusing on other things. When I came back up I was very keen on restarting this project.”

“Bulhan Nameh researches a selection of sites on the River Indus between Sukkur and Rohri in Sindh, Pakistan. Taking its name for the Sindhi word for the Indus River Dolphin, bulhan, this series intends to look at a 10km long stretch of river punctuated at one end by the British-era Sukkur Barrage and at the other by the island shrine of Khwaja Khizr, known locally to Hindus and Muslims as Zinda Pir. Here wildlife, history and spirituality collide with colonialism, capitalism, feudalism, as well as the ever more present modern state.”

According to Bhutto, “Nameh, is a Farsi, Urdu and Sindhi word for diary - this particular diary is written through printmaking and textile. Sukkur is the last place where the river is still full, much like shewas before the dams and barrages; it is the last refuge of the Indus River Dolphin and a site that evidences syncretic religious practices that still carry on in modern Sindh. The Indus is personified as Sindhu Mata, a river that not only gave Sindh its name but also India, Hinduism and all derivatives of these words.”

Contextualising the river in all its historical, social and cultural nuances, the artist through his work reimagines the Indus as a living, evolving entity. He uses cyanotypes, analogue photographs and archival inkjet prints on khaddar, cotton and muslin fabrics embellished with traditional Sindhi embroidery of threads, mirrors and sequins.

The unusual amalgamation of media helps evoke a sense of both time and space in his work.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2022