Folktales are not born of chance. “Folktale” has always been an umbrella term encapsulating the whole range of traditional oral narratives. 1 The resilient nature of oral storytelling reflects an interplay of linguistic and social interactions, historical transformations, and the…
At midnight I stood looking at the sky, feeling the excitement of the birth of a new year through the lens of my 10-year-old granddaughter. The fireworks were spectacular, the sound of firing deafening, and the pervasive smell of gunpowder…
‘I am one colour with your friendship, a companion of your love.’ --Jalaluddin Rumi5 The exhibition Valleys Of The Simorgh materialised from the INTRA project with the long title, INTRA Research Project: Valleys of the Simorgh. A transhistorical Quest for Equality and…
A characteristic that is common to most contemporary art galleries today is the desire to present art in slick white cubes with pristine white walls where objects are “neatly” arranged so that nothing else “distracts” or obstructs our point of…
I recently sat down for a detailed discussion with Julius John Alam about his practice; what motivates him and most significantly, the new body of work titled Songs of the Suffering Servant that he has recently completed for his solo…
Funk Carioca "FAVELA RAP" - the Popular Music of Rio de Janeiro Author: Asma Husain and Vincent Rosenblatt Originally published in NuktaArt, Vol 1, Two, October 2006 Cover Design: Sabiha Mohammad Imani Source of inspiration: Painting by Sumaya Durrani and…
Five years before Waheeda Baloch stood on Bagh Ibne Qasim’s Katrak Band Stand as curator of the Fourth Karachi Biennale (KB24)—with the sun setting before her, and the biennale beginning¾ she was a participating artist at the same location, for…
To search for poetic nuances in contemporary narratives of human conflict, politics of land, and geographical divide, one may look towards the renditions of nature in art practices from the past and present. Countries are marked through the contour lines…
‘Meri awaaz hi pehchaan hai’ The Indian poet Gulzar might have penned the verse for the likes of Talat Hussain --- people who have been bestowed with a voice that is hard to forget. When it is recalled or replayed,…
As the morning sun awakes from its slumber over Karachi, the bustling city comes alive with a rhythm and energy of its own. As I look out my car window on the way to school, the racing dewdrops are not…