The British philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein once wrote that “the logical picture of a fact is a Gedanke”.1 Simply put, Wittgenstein considered the act of thinking as a kind of a pictorial operation. Thoughts, sentences, and images represent reality by arranging…
We are twenty-five years into the new century, and despite all the curbs on freedom of expression Contemporary Art has successfully navigated the deeply fraught terrain and become an integral part of the country’s cultural consciousness. Curatorial practice has supported…
The Iran, Israel and USA war has become increasingly about digital imagery, fake news, AI generated scenes as a part of its war strategy. The television and digital news channels churn out information that is too much to absorb and…
When I first came across the title Interrupted Reveries, I found myself pausing to think about the display. The curator Fatma Shah translates this title as ‘Khwab o Khayal’ in Urdu. And this reminded me of the French philosopher Gaston…
Young artists who feel disconnected with the past may ask why is institutional memory important? How does it help us individually and professionally? These are important questions because academics, historians and cultural institutions have only been able to offer a…
Historical retellings of modern art from Western perspectives trace the origins of text-based image making at the beginning of the 20th century. Referring to American consumer culture, influential critics such as Lucy Lippard, W.J.T. Mitchell, and Hal Foster often discussed…
Recently I was asked at a local university about the future of art and creativity in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI). As someone who belongs to the pre-computer generation, all the memories of the 1990s--- when a computerized manufacturing…
When Zohra Husain opened Chawkandi Art gallery, in September of 1985, it was the era of Ali Imam’s Indus Gallery. Writing in The Star, columnist Irfan Husain was sceptical of this new “venture.” While he welcomed the gallery as an…
When Salt Becomes Sanctuary The Pakistan Pavilion, Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan At the core of Expo 2025 Osaka --- whose theme, Designing Future Societies for Our Lives, imagines tomorrow’s world through today’s choices --- the Pakistan Pavilion emerges not…
When looking at the world in black and white takes a literal turn, and you soak your senses in the world of contradictions you find yourself amongst the works of Khalil Chishti and Adeel-uz Zafar. Works that defy gravity, intrigue…