KARACHI: The phrase ‘cult following’ is not as frequently heard or used in the 21st century as it was in its preceding era. The reason could be that technology — since our age is known by its technological advancements — itself is a certain kind of cult, the devotion to a particular object or person.

A group exhibition titled Modern Cults that’s under way at the Full Circle Gallery takes a holistic view of the subject. It tries to examine life in contemporary times both against the backdrop of what’s gone by and by focusing on what’s constantly transpiring in society.

The central theme, as it should be, is the relationship of man with its surroundings. Man has to come to terms, and in some ways deal, with a number of things simultaneously — information flow, political upheavals, personal dilemmas and spiritual quests etc.

To put the message across the curator of the event Babar Moghal has given a line by British writer Aldous Huxley for the viewer to mull over and then with its help interpret the eye-catching artworks on display: “Most lead lives at worst so painful, at best so monotonous, poor and limited that the urge to escape, the longing to transcend themselves if only for a few moments, is and has always been one of the principle appetites of the soul.”

Appetites of the soul, what a striking phrase! This means that the soul, like the body, needs nourishment. To do that, man adopts different methods such as joining a clique or following a cult. One is here reminded of a French word, ennui, which Jean Paul Sartre often used in his creative works. It means boredom. The modern man faces the challenge of a new kind of ennui (weariness) compared to how the existentialists saw it, because now the pace that life progresses at has changed drastically, oftentimes making one wonder which direction to move in. And the artworks on view highlight this fact impressively.

The following artists are taking part in the show: Ailia Naqvi, Amna Suheyl, Ariba Akhlaque, Babar Moghal, Fatima Baig, Hafsa Moin, Inshaal Tahir, Komal Shahid Khan, Paul Mehdi Rizvi, Rimsha Talpur, Syed Jeem, Sheheryar Akbar and Umaina Khan.

The exhibition will conclude on Saturday (today).

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2022