KARACHI: The basis of Einstein’s theory of relativity is that space and time are relative, relying on the motion of their observer. Amin Gulgee is one of Pakistan’s eminent artists. He is a sculptor of proven credentials, so he knows the value of space… and time. But the remarkable performance art show title Jagah Hai that he put up at his gallery on Friday evening sought to achieve something else, something beyond the scientific understanding of things.
Before going into that, the magnitude of the show could be gauged from the fact that no fewer than 57 artists took part in it. This is no mean feat in itself — almost five dozen creative individuals in motion or immersed in acts that aimed to move the viewer. To make it all look plausible and eye-catching, the gallery was divided into the following areas in which artists were placed or their places were marked: driveway, foyer, big gallery, small gallery, courtyard, first landing, mezzanine, second landing, third landing, fourth landing, office, first roof, barsaati room, second roof, eye, third roof and the itinerants.
Talking to Dawn about the objective of opting for such a mammoth exercise, Amin Gulgee said, “The show is called Jagah Hai which is both a question and a statement. If there’s space, there isa space. It’s a show in which over 50 performances are happening at the same time. It’s curated by me, Sara Vaqar Pagganwala and Adam Fahy-Majeed. The idea is to bring forth new ideas and challenge conventions.”
When asked what kind of conventions the event was supposed to challenge, he replied, “It’s all about space in our country, Pakistan; space for all kinds of people, disenfranchised, minorities… all kinds.”
The concept was explored through multiple performances highlighting a whole gamut of emotion. One of the prominent themes seemed to be ‘courage’. A young male artist kept screaming about ‘aagey barho’ (move forward) and ‘himmat kero’ (show courage).
On an individual level, the theme of loneliness was sensitively touched upon by quite a few of the performers, one whom was playing chess all by herself, making moves from both sides of the chessboard. Subjugation was underlined in the shape of agonising cries and even the phrase ‘holding a mirror up to society’ was cleverly portrayed as an artist lifted a mirror up his head and moved among the guests quietly.
And yes, other forms of expression, namely Urdu poetry and oral storytelling, were also on display. It created a poignant little contrast with the visual forms that were more prominent. And with live music and dances, the argument for space was well justified.
PS: Since it’s not possible to name all the participating artists, one from each designated place was: Faryal Yazdanie, R M Naeem, Muna Siddiqui, Osama Saeed, Ayaz Hussain, Idrees Hanif, Ammara Jabbar, Rahil Siddiqui, Meher Afroz, Sanki King, Manizhe Ali, Sheema Khan, Noreen Ali, Claudia Arnold, Ayesha Toor, Shakira Masood and Bilal Ahmed.
Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2022
