One nostalgically recalls the September of 1998, the opening of the first branch of McDonald’s in Lahore and the long queue of well-dressed people standing for hours to get their fare. The restaurant was a regular hangout of the wealthy for quite some time, reminding them of their holiday trips to Europe and North America.
Not any more. The fast food chain now operating in different cities is full of working class people -- those who can easily afford a cheap meal in an air-conditioned environment for a few hundred bucks.
With the middle and lower classes crowding the once elitist eatery, these posh neighbourhoods are being discovered by a group of people who never went to those areas before. Thus one finds references of these places in the works of contemporary artists. In appearance, their attempts look different from the conventional practice of focusing on old sections of towns -- that pleases a class that patronises heritage and history. In exhibition after exhibition, one encounters contemporary views of Lahore and Karachi; so in a way the city is presented as the new emblem of identity.
This craving for cities is understandable in the wake of multinational marketing and globalisation of information, and decline of ‘national’ identities. The identification with a city is more clearly projected than association with a nation or country.
There have been efforts to create art in the civic spaces about the city, and some recent art events testify this trend, especially decorating the city walls with paintings, placing sculptures at urban sites, and creating installations at public places. One is yet to decipher and determine the ratio or balance between love for art or the compassion for public or a combination of the two in these activities; but whatever an individual or group’s commitment, the city is emerging as a dominant element, motif, concept and concern in today’s art.
As Karachi is our biggest metropolis, so its presence is prominent in contemporary art from the city. A recently concluded exhibition, The Science of Taking A Walk, comprised works of eight artists, addressing the aspect of urbanity. Curated by Hajra Haider, the show was held from May 21-July 25, 2015 at Gandhara Art Gallery, Karachi.
Subtitled Navigating (Re) Navigating: Forming Trajectories, the exhibition was significant for various reasons. It was limited to a single city but included works addressing the experience of contemporary reality. Hence Bani Abidi’s single channel video Mangoes, that dealt with the divide between India and Pakistan, or Farida Batool’s Lenticular print Kahani Eik Shehr Ki, which recorded or recreated the experience of walking on a street of Lahore.
Intelligently conceived, cleverly curated and carefully arranged, the exhibition combined some interesting views on living a city that can not be defined or deciphered. As every tourist has a unique view of the city he travels to, the artists have also created a personal version of their city. For some, its inhabitants were more important (Passport Photographs by Shalalae Jamil) whereas others concentrated on personal interaction with places, including geography, materials or description in words.
Naiza Khan, an artist long exploring city as a metaphor for change in social structure and relationships, has been working with the theme/site of Manora, the small peninsula connected to Karachi. In her work Rear-View, stills from her video are composed with historical writings on Karachi, but after deleting/masking out a few words. The work signifies how the history of a place, either in words or pictures, is not a factual account, but a blend of various sources, perceptions and prejudices.
Both Omer Wasim and Fazal Rizvi have focused on the cryptic nature of a common entity called Karachi. Wasim alludes to the pain and difficulties of being in a terror-stricken town with his installation (Untitled) while Rizvi repeats the same concerns by constructing shapes of a neighbourhood known for violence, and mapping the reclaimed lands -- by composing letters from a typewriter, a medium that with the hegemony of computer is now seen like a relic or any other traditional item. Wasim has also shown works on wall which -- almost echoing Naiza -- have text of book pages, with a number of blank sections. This act of obliteration implies individual and collective amnesia, which includes Imperial designs, moral restraints, political problems and existential issues.
However, some of these works on paper, using texts and preferring Urdu titles, like Pahadi, Samandar and Pathar by Fazal Rizvi, appear in the league of expected exercises in the vocabulary of contemporary art, almost leaving a coldness and indifference among the viewers (something that is very much an urban phenomenon and probably was intended by the makers). But on the other hand the works of Yaminay Chaudhri’s works managed to establish a link between a specific experience in the city and the viewer. Chaudhri’s single channel video combines two views of a ship on the shore of Karachi and the process of it being repainted and decorated. This otherwise simple endeavour is captured in such a way that the act becomes a symbol for man’s interaction with unknown entities.
Using the language of simplicity, the joint work of two artists Seher Naveed and Seema Nusrat is perhaps the most impressive. In False Perspective made with digital print on Vinyl, instead of harking on something profound community-conscious or city-oriented theme, both artists have extended a section of the gallery space on adjoining wall. The illusion of space was so magically and mesmerisingly managed that the viewer kept negotiating between reality and its illusion.
This work, in many ways, affirms the basic function of art -- of extending our notion and perception of a factual world. Because the moment a visitor steps into gallery, he is aware of the presence of art works as installations, works on paper, texts on walls, video channels and photographs, but is unable to suspect or guess the extension of gallery wall/space as the work of art; unless and until he comes closer to the wall that pushes the existing space. This reminds one of the essence of art -- of expanding our notions and limitation of reality, be it a gallery space, neighbourhood, city, country, or region.