KARACHI: There are communities all over the world that feel sidelined in their respective societies because of reasons that can range from them being in minority or belonging to a group that finds it difficult to be an active segment of the mainstream because of a serious shortcoming. It is the duty of every society, then, to create circumstances that enable them to become and feel as much part of the system as any other group.

A four-person exhibition titled The Invisible Collapse that concluded at the Canvas Art Gallery on Thursday focuses on this important subject.

The artists whose works are on display are Attiya Shaukat (originally from Lahore, currently residing in Karachi), Rabia Farooqui (lives in Karachi), Maisam Hussain (from Parachinar, now based in Lahore) and Syed Hussain (from Quetta, based in Lahore). They may seem to be an eclectic set of creative souls, but they have something significant in common: they are a resilient bunch.

Why does one say that? Answer: their struggle in life has to do both with personal predicaments and societal pressures. All of them are not just quality artists, but their success in the field of art indicates the steely resolve with which they like to face the exigencies of life.

There are more than two dozen artworks on view in the exhibition. They are done in a delectable variety of styles, using techniques which are familiar (gouache, graphite, paper tape, documentary etc) and yet, because of the way the artists have broached their topics, come across as newly applied methods. To support the claim, having a good look at Syed Hussain’s untitled series, Attiya Shaukat’s ‘To be or not to be’, Maisam Hussain’s ‘Daily news’ and Rabia Farooqui’s ‘Protection’ would suffice. These exhibits give the viewer a fair idea of how opportunity can be sought out of an adverse situation and made effective use of as if adversity was never there in the very first place.

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2026