Prisoners bring their inner thoughts to life on canvases

The walls of Alliance Française de Karachi’s art gallery have been adorned with some 60 paintings – labours of love by those incarcerated at the Central Jail Karachi.

Titled ‘Bastille to Karachi Jail’, the fourth week-long exhibition of artworks by the central prison’s inmates was inaugurated by Consul General of France in Karachi François Dall’Orso on Saturday, July 8.

The show, which would end on July 14, borrows its name from the Storming of the Bastille in Paris, which was the centre stage of the French Revolution in the 18th century.

The medieval fortress, armoury and political prison known as the Bastille contained only seven inmates at the time of its storming on July 14, 1789, but its fall was the flashpoint of the revolution.

The exhibition at Alliance Française is an initiative taken by Prisons IG Nusrat Mangan. This time round the money collected through the sale of the paintings would go directly to the inmates.

“It’s not possible for [the prisoners] to generate an income when they’re behind bars,” Mangan told The News, “so such shows not only encourage their aspirations, but also provide them with sustenance.”

A similar exhibition was organised earlier within the premises of the central jail, but due to logistical issues, only a few people were able to attend the event. Moreover, since transactions at the prison are banned, it was not feasible to charge for the artists’ works.

Mangan said that Alliance Française had taken the responsibility of providing art materials, and that it was high time that the central prison’s art school, which was being run since 2008, be affiliated with a registered institution.

With no theme or idea in mind, the artists portrayed various scenes ranging from an inmate repainting a prison wall (‘Vanishing Walls’) to waterfalls to a woman singing a folk song. Artist Aziz Bugti has a lot of works to his name. His charcoal painting titled ‘210 Years’ symbolises the number of years sentenced. Hasnain Raza’s ‘Chauvinism’ is an interesting work showing a man with a woman in the background.

Allah Wadhayo’s ‘Pretence’ is a portrait of a woman who happens to be famous author, Jane Austen, indicating that one uses their thoughts to give meaning to their works without being concerned about the real imagery.

‘Footprints’ by Raja shows a dangling noose with red footprints beneath it, probably pointing towards the termination of those involved in heinous crimes. Raza’s ‘Bastille’, which was not for sale, was perhaps dedicated to the 1789 storming.