Achara--- reimagined as a vibrant medium for narrative and spatial exploration in the exhibition Folding/Unfolding- The Achara Chronicles, curated by Arshad Faruqui. The curator focuses on highlighting principles of repurposing, thereby reflecting on the recurring nature of artistic creation. Within…
A solo show by Noman Bhatti opened its doors to his fine art photography series titled Evolving Selves at the IVS Gallery, Karachi on the 15th of October, 2024. In this exhibition curated by Malika Abbas, Bhatti unveils eighteen striking…
The deliberate intention to illustrate the miniature paintings in an unrealistic manner was aligned with the aesthetic reasoning of the painters to represent reality in a fictional way. Unlike their Western counterparts, miniature paintings have always deviated from the photographic…
‘I am one colour with your friendship, a companion of your love.’ --Jalaluddin Rumi12 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…
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…
In the late 1700s, wealthy Europeans eating from pewter plates died when they consumed tomatoes. For over a hundred years they feared the fruit, ignorant that their tableware combined with a tomato’s acidity caused lead poisoning38. In the subcontinent, brass…
When we contemplate the origins of visually mapping environments the first image that comes to mind are paintings and pictographs found in prehistoric caves and early sanctuaries; these rudimentary drawings became the foundational syntax of social communication systems that provide…
The human urge for storytelling has existed as long as recorded history (or perhaps it prompted the need for the latter), and though it takes on different forms and flavors depending on location, culture and time, its need transcends such…
The practice of creating miniature paintings, which traditionally were commissioned to illustrate religious stories, scientific texts, poetry, tales, and imperial histories, was scrupulous and extremely attentive to details. In the South-east Asian region, regardless of its strong connection with present-day…