Art of freedom

The issue of freedom for artists to express their thoughts and emotions without restraint through their work on canvas or in other forms has come up before in our country. This was especially true during the Zia era when the exhibition of figurative art was banned. Art in every form is an intrinsic part of society and without the freedom to express, it cannot move forward. In this context, the happenings at the ongoing Karachi Biennale resembled a farce. On Sunday, an installation displaying gravestones and a documentary to mark the memory of encounter victims – apparently of Rao Anwar – in Karachi between 2011 and 2018 was taken down by plainclothes men who entered Frere Hall, the venue.

Students from the Indus Valley School of Art where Adeela Suleman, the artist behind the installation, is head of the fine arts department set up the fallen gravestones once again; these were once again brought down and as they were broken to pieces, the students lay on the ground on Monday, performing a ‘die in’ of the kind we have seen in Palestine and other places. Meanwhile, on Sunday social activist Jibran Nasir who spoke out against the action at Frere Hall was stopped from speaking to the media by the DG Parks, who said Jibran did not have permission to deliver a press conference at the venue. Since then, the organisers of the Karachi Biennale have said – in a bizarre statement – that the installation was not in keeping with the theme of ecology and environment for this years biennale. It is however impossible to believe they had not seen the contents of Suleman’s installation before it went on display.

The work done by those attempting to prevent the display of the installation have in fact highlighted it further. The images from the event are being broadcast across social media as well as mainstream media. If the aim was to stop people from seeing the work, the opposite has happened. In civilized societies, or democratic ones, the right of artists and writers and filmmakers to display their artistic expression is respected. The action targeting one of the biggest exhibitions of art in the year is deeply disappointing. The secrecy behind the raid is as disturbing. It appears that the dead cannot be remembered even in art.