KARACHI: Make no mistake: public spaces in Karachi, in terms of safety, leave a little bit to be desired. This is not true for all of them, one must clarify. But the fact remains that for women, in particular, moving around at such places is not always an easy exercise. They have to endure many ungainly things, especially if they happen to be in areas which are to do with unavoidable everyday necessities.

An exhibition by Amna Rahman’s artworks titled Locus: Where Eyes Settle, which recently completed its run at the Chawkandi Art Gallery, raises similar concerns with artistic flair. The artist treats the seriousness of the subject without compromising on the essential aesthetic component that differentiates genuine art from mere colorful messaging.

To get the hang of what Amna is trying to do, reading part of her statement will help: “Surveillance becomes a lens through which masculine-centric public spaces in Karachi are re-examined. Women are navigating environments such as a water tanker in Korangi and boats in the fisheries of Ibrahim Hyderi, sites shaped by water politics, informal distribution networks and shifting ecological conditions. Within this tension, the female body becomes both site-anchored and hyper-visible, held within layered fields of observation and subjected to multiple viewers, whether in a dhaba watching an Indian film or in an electronic market in Clifton.”

This is a noteworthy phrase: shifting ecological conditions. Keeping the shift in mind, it will be hard to deny that the city has assumed a new look in the last couple of decades. Its crowded and pretty hard to navigate, if one’s either on foot or in a vehicle.

Amna puts ‘women’ at the centre of such a scenario and draws pictures, metaphorically speaking, that make the viewer think over and over again about their plight. For example, ‘She takes the helm’ (oil on canvas) series is a poignant reminder of the man-woman equation in which the male gaze is both palpable and unavoidable. The artist does a striking job in saying what she thinks and drawing what she feels.

Published in Dawn, May 3rd, 2026