KARACHI: One of the reasons that children and innocence are deemed synonymous is that children’s memories aren’t formed until, let’s say, and generally speaking, they celebrate their third or fourth birthday. As they grow old, experiences — good and bad — start getting stored in their memory bank, and the tougher phases of life take away their innocent charm. This is the reason that for the artist community the two-fold aspect of memory — personal and societal — matter a great deal because the contents of their art are largely shaped by that.

Ahsan Javaid’s exhibition of artworks titled Two Pasts Meet Memory,which concluded on May 15 at the Canvas Art Gallery, homes in on the same subject.

There’s another noteworthy element of the whole exercise: Ahsan’s fondness for the written word. He attaches importance to text and by building a communication bridge between image and letters he creates a visual language that’s exciting and profound. The word exciting is largely to do with what one sees in the frames. The melancholia that the images exude emanates from the subject matter: pangs of memory.

For a touch more than a dozen artworks on display, the artist tells the viewer that the exhibits focus on coming up with a narrative based on excerpts by Pakistani writers. For example, in the very first piece, homage is paid to a statue of Allama Iqbal. It’s good.

At the centre of it all is Ahsan’s comment: “I’m particularly drawn to the gaps and silences within collective narratives, examining how power operates within visual culture and materiality, shaping what is preserved and what fades from view.”

This is the crux of the matter. The artist examines the role that power plays in our midst both by looking back at things and how it impinges upon the present environment in striking artworks such ‘Terms and Popsicles’ (oil and acrylics on canvas, beach wood). His awareness of the socio-political flaws (let’s call them gaps) in society is critical. That said, it would be a mistake to praise the exhibits for their subject matter alone. Ahsan’s art has unmistakable aesthetic vibrancy which makes both what’s being said and how it’s being said something special.

Published in Dawn, May 18th, 2025