Exhibition celebrates beauty of unsung heroes
ISLAMABAD: ‘A Lifeline Spread Long’, a photography exhibition by Mobeen Ansari, was presented at the Satrang Gallery on Tuesday. The exhibition opening was followed by an Artist’s Talk and the screening of two documentary films by the artist.
Mr Ansari is a photojournalist, documentary filmmaker and painter. A graduate of the prestigious National College of the Arts, his mission is to promote a positive and often unseen side of Pakistan through his photographs. In 2014, he published a book of photographs of Pakistani icons, ‘Dharkan: the Heartbeat of a Nation’. He has since given two TED talks and has exhibited his works in the United States, Italy, China, Pakistan, India and Iraq.
His first documentary film, ‘Hellhole’, has also been selected for screening at the New Orleans Film Festival 2016. ‘Hellhole’ is the story of a worker in Karachi who cleans gutters. Beautifully done, it relies entirely on visuals with no words.
Asma Rashid Khan, the director of Satrang, said: “Mobeen’s photographs are a visual treat while celebrating the beauty and authenticity of the unsung heroes of Pakistan, in the country’s diverse landscape and culture. He has travelled all over Pakistan and met the people, filmed the places and we thought it was important to create a show that displayed the most far-flung areas of the country.”
She added: “I taught Mobeen in school in the sixth grade, so it has been an interesting journey with him. Even then he was interested in the arts and to see him go through art school and reach this level of his craft is very gratifying.”
Trained as a painter, Mr Ansari’s photography – like his paintings – depicts his subjects in a way similar to that of Rembrandt and Vermeer.
Mr Ansari said: “I became interested in photography during my O Levels and it actually helped that I lost my hearing at a very young age because it allowed me to be very visual and appreciate the most beautiful aspects of the mundane. It also inspired me to travel.”