KARACHI: The Goethe Institut is celebrating Austrian-Czech writer Franz Kafka’s centenary all over the world. In that connection, a two-day exhibition of Austrian artist Nicolas Mahler’s work taken from his comic biography of the writer (who wrote in German) to coincide with his centenary titled Completely Kafka concluded at the Arts Council of Pakistan on Sunday.

The show has an astounding range of (seemingly) funny as well as poignant illustrations inspired by and gleaned from Kafka’s life and work. They are not simple sketches that signify his stories or what he wrote in his letters. They are just as absurd in their execution as most of Kafka’s tales. What needs to be further praised is that they draw the writer’s life trajectory in a seamless way, that is, his initial days, his struggling period, his creative phase and his issues with depression. Mahler has done a tremendous job in telling the story of a grand storyteller in a smart, brief style.

For example, two of Kafka’s more read and talked-about books The Trial and The Metamorphosis are incisively highlighted by the artist.

In the former, Mahler tells the viewer: “Kafka’s novels all remain fragments, including perhaps his most famous book, The Trial.” It is a hint at the incompleteness that some of his stories carry, which give them, interestingly, an inexplicable extra edge. In the case of the latter, he says, “Kafka, who himself is fond of drawing, has serious concerns about the cover design for the published edition of his novella The Metamorphosis. He rightly fears that the illustrator might want to draw the beetle.”

The beetles appear in another squiggly exhibit. With The Metamorphosis, Mahler doesn’t just focus on the insect that the protagonist of the story turns into but also makes the door that becomes a metaphor for his coming in and going out of the changed world.

The shorter masterpieces by Kafka such as The Judgment and A Hunger Artist also give the viewer a sense of the visual richness, not just the textual perceptiveness of the stories — a quality in Kafka’s work that’s not discussed as frequently as it merits.

The exhibition was formally inaugurated on Saturday evening by German Consul General Dr Rudiger Lotz.

Speaking on the occasion, he said Nov 9 was also important because Iqbal Day was being observed in Pakistan. Iqbal had a strong connection with Germany, a link between the east and the west.

Talking about Kafka, he commented, “If you think 100 years back, there are a few writers who have something to say to us today.”

Earlier, Director Goethe Institut Andreas Schiekofer informed the media on the background to the exhibition.

Arts Council’s President

Ahmed Shah in his address said the Goethe Institut and the German Consulate have been the most active international partners in the council’s activities.

Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2024