KARACHI: The history of mankind is marred by violence. The current situation in certain parts of the world is a testimony to the fact that the horrific trend continues. The artist community has always spoken on the subject — sometimes in a subtle manner and occasionally in stentorian tones. This gives credence to the phrase that history repeats itself. An exhibition of Waseem Ahmed’s latest body of artworks titled Cognitive Bias that concluded at the Chawkandi Art Gallery on Friday focussed on the continuum in art of certain issues related to the world that stand relevant to date.

Waseem is a bit perturbed by the fact that while discussing the important topics that plague society oftentimes the ‘craftsmanship’ of an artist takes centre-stage and the issue that s/he intends to bring to light takes a backseat. This is a genuine concern because while shedding light on any creative work, the technique used and the content that’s being propagated through that technique should not upstage each other. Both are equally important and mutually reinforcing.

Waseem, through his artworks and insightful statement, underlines how we understand the past and the present. He mentions that he uses imageries from the past to recreate them in order to highlight the present. Then the artist puts emphasis on the following: “… Society is bound to lose if we do not change the status quo, fusing notions of fragility and violence, chaos and calm. It is up to the viewer to determine whether this is a world that can be salvaged; whether these are scenes of hope emerging out of an inevitable doom-in-progress.”

One can clearly sense that he is a sensitive soul who focuses on the human race. This also reflects in his untitled exhibits and pieces such as ‘Invisible Border’ (dry pigment colour, tea stain on handmade archival wasli paper) in which he employs symbols of disorder to home in on the topic that he feels strongly about. Consequently, he creates convincing and striking art.

Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2024