Reinvention is a critical watchword for contemporary artists emerging from countries which are experiencing the onslaught of new imperialism (artfully concealed under the term ‘globalisation’). The process enables them to revisit, reimagine and look anew at the past and the present sensibilities in order to articulate what should or should not be presented. This practice often speaks to a forgotten aspect of our relationship with the world and is particularly relevant in the current context when the compelling question for the postmodern artist is, increasingly, ‘where do I come from?’

Probing the cultural, political and social history of the region to rediscover lost beliefs practices and attitudes, the ongoing, “Present Re-inventions” exhibition at Grosvenor Gallery, London, (in association with Canvas Gallery, Karachi) throws up some questions, answers and declarations that relocate native sensibilities and cultural rootedness within a contemporary perspective. Comprising works by three new age artists, Muhammed Zeeshan, Irfan Hasan and Muzzamil Raheel, the exhibition content is also an enticing fusion of exquisite traditional skills and barbed contemporary vocabulary.

The three-artist exhibition is an enticing fusion of delicate conventional skills and acerbic current vocabulary

Commenting on the current social and cultural schism within communities Zeeshan, as a counter to the ensuing extremism and polarity, reminds us of yesteryears when peaceful co-existence and interfaith harmony prevailed. Honouring historical and mystical figures from Hinduism and Islam, the imagery in his ‘Safarnama’ celebrates the subcontinent’s cultural diversity. Culled from folklore, mythology and Islamic history his references of sacred rituals, customs and images of deities and divinities like Jhoolay lal, Sailani Baba, Lord Vishnu and Krishna do not just delight the eye but also prompt recaps of our past when tolerance and respect for each other’s rights was a given.

A top tier miniaturist with a strong experimental bent Zeeshan’s earlier use of grainy sandpaper as a miniature base (instead of wasli) questioned the legitimacy of the orthodox miniature technique in a multimedia infused postmodern era. His recent work combines traditional miniature painting techniques, with 21st century laser technology, to create extremely detailed and delicate depictions of a range of subjects. The artist uses lasers to score the paper and is currently the only artist working in this extremely high-tech medium.

For Hasan the past/present and the East/West reconciliation occur seamlessly. He fuses his Indo-Persian miniature construct with Realism as defined through the classical drawings and paintings of the Old Masters. His finely rendered portraits and figure studies referencing the works of Da Vinci, Rembrandt, Reubens, Van Dyck, Bouguereau, etc, are done in opaque watercolour on paper with the single hair squirrel tail brush. The technique and the sensibility of stylisation are inspired from Indo-Persian miniature painting. A meld of two independent techniques the series called, ‘After’ which is not just his tribute but also a contemporary reinvention of two epochal but divergent eras of art.

Raheel’s fluent rendering of the Arabic script is a distinguishing feature of his oeuvre. He has perfected an independent style that he moulds and manipulates at will. Often he constructs swathes, ribbons, bands or sheaths of scripted mass, sans legible content, which encircles or shrouds to reveal/conceal or congeal his subject in order to build sites of ambiguous, questionable content.

His series “And how we forgot them” and “The land of dreams” is an oblique commentary on our colonial past. He employs methods of deletion and addition on accessed footage/photographs of personages, locales and architectural landmarks of a bygone era to illustrate implied accidents. The works gain meaning when viewed as veiled references of social and political mishaps.

This exhibition demonstrates how art can be a vital bridge between a place and its people. In addressing the region’s history either implicitly or explicitly in their work, the artists have created linkages between themselves and the recent past in order to reevaluate and comprehend the present.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, October 26th, 2014