KARACHI: We don’t often realise that memory has a huge role to play in how mentally healthy or unhealthy we are. Even when one tends to refute Sigmund Freud’s theories about our suppressed childhood, the fact is that memory does impinge on the way we function as a human being throughout our lives.

A two-person show titled Garden at Rest that can be seen at the Canvas Art Gallery doesn’t entirely rely on that aspect of existence, but the display’s basic idea emanates from it.

The participating artists Khadija S Akhtar and Rabia S Akhtar are siblings. One might harbour the notion that the geneses of their artistic pursuits are more or less the same. Well, while there’s a common thread that runs through their works, that’s not entirely on the mark.

Khadija says her work stems from her personal struggle with depression leading to an intimate quest, seeking and depicting spaces of comfort, while processing memories, trauma and questioning history. She notes, “As recollections of the past are altered by contemporary circumstances, they grow increasingly fragile and precious.”

On the other hand, Rabia “focuses on the ecosystem of fictional, childhood landscapes as they coincide with the vanishing animal world due to the ongoing climate crisis.”

Now the phrase ‘struggle with depression’ indicates a personal predicament whereas the word ‘ecosystem’ implies a universal aspect. This is exactly the point where the art of the Akhtars gets enticingly attractive — the confluence of the individual and the collective.

One of the prime examples of such a coming-together is Khadija’s ‘The Memories of Yesterday’ series (acrylic on canvas) and Rabia’s ‘Above the Trees’ series (gouache on wasli). The artists have packed their frames with elements that talk about trauma and the environment. And yet, instead of clutter, there’s clarity in the artworks — the kind of clarity that only art can bestow life with when it’s imitating it.

The exhibition concludes on Thursday (today).

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2023