KARACHI: There’s a poignant line in William Shakespeare’s King Lear. Earl of Gloucester, after losing his eyesight and misunderstanding one of his sons at a heavy cost, says, “I stumbled when I saw.” The reference here is to the spiritual awakening which is achieved after losing the visual sense, a physical attribute.

Dolphins found in the Indus River are unlike that: they are ‘sightless’ but have ‘high sonar capabilities’. Add what adds to the beauty of this creature is that it exudes innocence like very few creatures in the universe.

They need to be taken care of by the authorities concerned with great seriousness because not only this lovely species is an integral part of nature’s munificence but adds to its aesthetical dimension.

A two-person show titled Hungry Shores featuring works of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Saba Khan that’s under way at the Canvas Art Gallery highlights both the plight and beauty of the blind dolphin.

According to the information provided by the gallery, last year in the month of March, Saba Khan and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto visited Guddu Barrage and Sukkur Barrage for research on the habitat of blind Indus River dolphin. As a result, what the viewer gets to see in the show is an inspiring range of more than a dozen artworks.

Khan uses oil on canvas to highlight the sightlessness of the species feelingly. Feelingly: because the artist comes up with a poetic personification of the species in exhibits such as ‘Lightness’, allowing the viewer to empathise with it.

Bhutto presents his noteworthy craft through his Bulhan Nameh (dolphin diaries) in works like ‘Play’ by using cyanotype on khaddar, broadening the dolphin space into a world of infinite possibilities where man and cetacean can coexist in harmony. Do they? That’s the question the viewer needs to ask themselves.

Apart from that, there are audio and video presentations on the subject that complement the theme of the show well.

The exhibition will continue till April 25.

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2024