According to the Collins English Dictionary, the term ‘solastalgia’ is defined as “unease and melancholy caused by the destruction of the natural environment; eco-anxiety.” It is an apt term for the emotional and conceptual terrain explored in ‘Solastalgia’, a solo exhibition by multidisciplinary artist Munawar Ali Syed at the Chawkandi Art Gallery.

“Solastalgia is a longing for the lost terrain of my soul,” Syed reflects. “In Karachi’s relentless sprawl, I find myself suspended between the concrete’s grip and the whisper of a vanishing horizon. The city’s pulse fuels my art, yet every beat echoes with what we’ve surrendered — nature’s silence, the tree’s shade, the cloud’s whisper.” His words resonate deeply in a city where unchecked development has steadily erased not only natural landscapes but also layers of history and cultural identity.

Syed is far from alone in this sense of loss. In Karachi, modernisation often proceeds without even superficial attempts at preservation. Uniform high-rises and concrete apartment blocks continue to replace neighbourhoods with distinct character, resulting in a cityscape that feels increasingly generic and alienating. This profit-driven urban expansion has drawn justified criticism for damaging both the environment and the city’s historical fabric. 

As architect and planner Arif Hasan recently noted in Dawn, Karachi has built 43 flyovers in the last two decades — many of them unnecessary and politically motivated rather than technically sound — yet they have failed to resolve the city’s core infrastructural problems.

Munawar Ali Syed’s latest body of work reflects on our fraught relationship with nature and the uncertain destiny of modern cities

Syed’s exhibition comprises 22 works that oscillate between beauty and menace. Several pieces are visually alluring yet quietly threatening, prompting reflection on our fraught relationship with nature and the uncertain destiny of modern cities. His rosy-brown, totem-like Untitled sculptures, carved from rosewood — one of the hardest woods to work with — are particularly striking. Embedded within these vertical forms are books and six-inch rulers, seemingly swallowed by the structure, while iron rods protrude from the top, evoking the unfinished and abandoned buildings that punctuate Karachi’s skyline.

Two other Untitled works resemble framed relics, mimicking fragments of eroded heritage architecture. Made from fibreglass and sandstone, they suggest both fragility and endurance. In contrast, a seascape painting on canvas, formally framed with sandstone, is partially obscured by concrete. The implication is clear: in a city by the sea, access to the horizon is increasingly blocked by walls of ‘development’.

Syed’s pen-and-ink drawings on archival paper, all titled Solastalgia, reinforce this narrative. Composed of cubes, rectangles, and tangled forms of birds and trees, they echo the monotonous geometry of the city itself. Despite their meticulous hatching and energetic lines, the drawings carry a quiet sadness — a sense of repetition and entrapment mirroring urban life.

The exhibition ultimately gestures beyond critique toward an urgent reminder. Urban green spaces — parks, gardens and forests — are essential for air quality, temperature regulation, biodiversity, and public health. They enrich social and cultural life and make cities more humane and livable. ‘Solastalgia’ underscores the need for sustainable urban development, rooted in collaboration between planners, communities and authorities, before the city’s remaining horizons disappear entirely.

‘Solastalgia’ was on display at Chawkandi Art Gallery, Karachi from January 7-17, 2026

Rumana Husain is a writer, artist and educator. She is the author of two coffee-table books on Karachi, and has authored and illustrated 90 children’s books

Published in Dawn, EOS, February 22nd, 2026