ISLAMABAD: Satrang Gallery on Friday opened its latest exhibition, Portraits of Adornments, a solo show by Lahore-based contemporary artist and curator Minaa Haroon.

The exhibition reimagined jewellery, traditionally seen as a symbol of beauty or status, as a medium for storytelling, memory and reflection on women’s lived experiences.

In her practice, Minaa Haroon used her mother’s jewellery as a personal archive, weaving together threads of memory, inheritance, and identity. These adornments, often dismissed as mere decorative objects, were repositioned to highlight their historical, cultural, and emotional significance.

Through this approach, Haroon encouraged viewers to consider how inherited objects shape ideas of femininity, belonging, and generational resilience.

“Her work situates adornments beyond decoration and places them within wider social and political contexts,” noted Asma Khan, Director of Satrang Gallery.

“This exhibition is particularly resonant in the South Asian context, where inherited jewellery has long stood as both cultural symbol and silent witness to the struggles and strengths of women across generations.”

Haroon’s artistic inquiry acknowledged the heritage that jewellery embodies while simultaneously questioning the constraints it may impose. In doing so, she transformed private possessions into historical entities, reframing them as vessels of collective memory and socio-political meaning.

“Inherited adornments, passed down through South Asian traditions, carry the weight of memory and continuity. They are more than ornamental,” Ms Haroon reflected in the artist statement at the exhibition.

She stated in the process, the personal becomes political, opening spaces for layered reinterpretations and new imaginaries.

Ms Haroon’s artistic journey was as expansive as it was rooted.

Her work has been showcased at prestigious international platforms, including the Biennale in Collegium Novum, Orsha (Belarus); Suzhou University Museum (China); and the Pakistan Embassy in Budapest (Hungary).

She has also participated in exhibitions across the UAE and leading galleries in Pakistan, such as Koel, ArtChowk, Sanat Initiative, Khaas and Satrang.

In addition to her practice as an artist, Haroon currently serves as Assistant Director (Fine Arts) at the Lahore Arts Council, where she has curated significant exhibitions at Alhamra Art Gallery.

Her curatorial projects have also extended internationally, with collaborations at the Museum of Sociology and Anthropology and the Queen Sirikit Convention Centre in Thailand.

Her recent engagements include mentoring for the Arts through Social Change Residency (2023), supported by the US Mission; participation in the Wanwu Council (2024), co-supported by the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and Lahore Biennale Foundation; and a Visiting Scholarship under the Cultural Preservation Professional Exchange Programme in the United States (2024).

Her contributions have been recognised through awards such as the Sir Percy Award, the Young Artist Award (2012), and the People’s Choice Award at RedArtBox in Los Angeles.

With Portraits of Adornments, Minaa Haroon continues to blur the boundaries between the personal and the political, reminding audiences that objects of beauty can also carry the deepest stories of memory, resilience and cultural heritage.

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2025