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Visiting a city of paradoxes

Text: Mariam Qureshi

Photography: Courtesy the author and Dirk

Dhaka is a city of paradoxes; on one side we look down the 18 story of Westin Dhaka with all the glitz of an international five star hotel on to the dirtiest slums of the city. On the other hand is a tuk tuk driven by men all around the city whose stamina can match a sprinter performing in the Olympics and on the other hand cars lined up at a traffic signal for no less then forty five minutes. To narrate another contradiction would be that a real string of pearl will cost you as less as 300 Bangladeshi Takkas which would amount to around four hundred Rupees where as a bottle of water can cost you up to 500 BDT. It is a characteristic city with a flavor of its own.  Essentially another paradox of the city; it is extremely poverty stricken yet art and culture thrives in abundance.

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Searching -Through the Looking Glass



Text: Salwat Ali
Visuals: Courtesy Amin Gulgee Gallery

Stepping through the Looking Glass into Amin Gulgees Wonderland was a strangely familiar experience. A collision of the personal and the universal his medley of creative entanglements titled “Through the Looking Glass”, exhibited at his own gallery, centered on a reconfiguration of old works. The trick was to see them through a new lens. Mirrors have a great propensity to draw people into them physically and cognitively and Amin played creatively with mirror reflections, the see through look, peek – a - boo effects and gazing into infinity to transform familiar tales into new stories.

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ASNA – A Moment in Time



Text: Marjorie Husain
Photographs: courtesy VM  Art Gallery

Ceramic artifacts link the universe with a history that is traced back thousands of years. Clay figurines 27,000 years old and remnants of pottery have informed archeologists of the behavior, culture and methods of the world’s ancestors. It was surprising to discover on a visit to the Moenjodaro Museum that shards of pottery excavated from the site are decorated with patterns that are similar to those found in contemporary designs of art and craft pieces of present times. Pakistan has an historic history of clay work from throughout its regions, and artists aware of this tradition continue to explore and encourage the work of potters of the interior. Clay is in our genes and people from all parts of the world continue to practice the tradition in diverse ways.

In Karachi a meticulously planned and eagerly awaited event was received with enthusiasm when in January 2013, the Fourth ASNA Clay Triennial began. Held at the Rangoonwalla Community Centre, the occasion lasted three interest packed weeks and included a well planned programme of events. A two day seminar opened followed by an exhibition of ceramics contributed by 60 artists from 16 countries. A `Kumbhar’ mela where potters from various regions in Pakistan demonstrated and exhibited their work took place. At Chawkandi Art Gallery, a popular event was the exhibition of the work of promising young ceramists with the country’s renowned ceramist Sherezade Alam, accompanying her students from Lahore for the occasion. Amin Gulgee arranged a fabulous evening of Performance Art – Riwhtti - at his studio; while Sheba Akhtar curated a display: Earth, Light and Architecture at the NED University campus.  

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SHARING AN ARTIST’S VIEWPOINT | SORAYA SIKANDAR IN | AT | AND AROUND



Text: Marjorie Hussain
Photographs

“My work addresses the issues of form and the relationship between line, shape and colour. I am interested in mark making and its relationship with negative space, and exploring media (traditional and three-dimensional) to create the effect of an intervention into a picturesque world. Through my work, I explore fundamental questions. What does it mean to be human? What is an object? What is a creature? And ultimately how do we define and interpret our world. Recurring themes in my work suggest location, place, gender, identity, and nationally – through direct or subtle references to memory, association and anthropomorphic forms. The distinction between drawing, painting-into-sculpture and sculptural installations are blurred, as objects transfigure one into another, installed in everyday settings to create a human interaction with transformed objects”. (Soraya Sikandar, 2013)

Soraya Sikander is a young artist with an extensive experience of art practice to her credit. She initially completed one year at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture Karachi, before joining Beacon House National University, Lahore.
After graduating in 2008 her excitement with art and the desire to explore ways to express her inner feelings led her to practice a variety of media including, painting, woodblock carving, silkscreen prints and video. She is a young artist in unusual circumstances as part owner and curator of the family run Unicorn Gallery. Karachi and the responsibilities involved. Her time is divided between her practicing her art and planning various programmes to be mounted at the gallery, including lectures, book launches and art festivals as well as exhibitions.

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