KARACHI, April 6: It is very seldom that one gets to see an art exhibition with political undertones. The use of the word ‘undertone’ is deliberate, because while doing such a show the element of artistic subtlety is of prime importance. This means that politics is often associated with crass things whereas art is all about (most of the time) aesthetics.

An interesting, if somewhat brief, exhibition titled Rupture/Rapture curated by Sumbul Khan commenced at the VM Art gallery on Friday.

The exhibition features multimedia presentations as well as a painting (acrylic on canvas) done by Moeen Faruqi. The other three participating artists are Nameera Ahmed with her short video film Bloody Birds, a tabla recital by Yousuf Kerai (on an audio loop) and the text of the distinguished Urdu poet N.M. Rashid’s celebrated poem Zindagi se darte ho.

Mooen Faruqi has come up with a somewhat different work than what the viewer usually expects of him. There is a splash of colours with a certain sense of arrangement.

The element of design aided by recognisable shapes is evident. The artist has deviated from the figurative work that he’s done in recent times.

Nameera Ahmed’s video is about chickens and (poultry) slaughter plant. The title Bloody Birds refers to their helplessness of the creature.

Nameera has managed to not only capture the images but also the sounds of the whole exercise.

Yousuf Kerai is a known instrumentalist. Music experts rate him very highly. The beat that he’s chosen for the exhibition has a feeling of immediacy to it, without losing on the innate rhythm.

Perhaps the most simple and intriguing exhibit on display is the text of N.M. Rashid’s poem Zindagi se darte ho. Why is it there? Well, it makes more sense when the curator’s statement is read. Taking the examples of four dictators — Hosni Mubarak, Muammar Qadhafi, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and Ziaul Haq — with the help of the timeline of Arab spring events excerpted from a British newspaper, she has tried to grasp uncertainties of life shaped by politics.

The exhibition will continue till April 17.