Finally, a change in direction is setting in! The 10th Emerging Talent exhibition at V.M. Art Gallery not only presented us with a selection of thesis projects from 12 different art schools, from all over Pakistan, it showed new directions and evolution.
For starters, the most positive development that was immediately noticeable was that entries from art institutions outside the three major cities were present, along with two new schools showcasing selected works from their first graduating classes. Students from Hyderabad's Center of Excellence, Multan's Bahauddin Zakariya University, Bhawalpur's Islamia University, and Gujrat University were represented, indicating that art education is bringing higher education opportunities to women outside the urban centers, as studying art at this level is acceptable for even conservative families. Fatima Jinnah University for Women, Islamabad, and Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, were the two new entrants in this annual show, as this was the year the first batch of graduates were obtaining their degrees in fine arts from these institutions. The importance of education is evident in the number of serious institutions that are being established, while the role of the arts and art education in society is gaining momentum.
For previous year, a sort of stagnation had set in among the schools and artist, as evident in the Emerging Talent exhibitions held at VM, year after year. For years, all one saw was how Miniature art continued to show the modern world, the images of the burqa and the Kalashnikov made political statements, industrial materials such as metal, concrete, and paper made their way into sculptures, technology brought with it digital art such as films and photography, while other students seemed to be taking cues from the shock-and-awe- artists of the West, using body parts and fluids in their installations. It had become a bit predictable and even mundane. I was often left asking myself, where was the art, in this art?
Art is expression, we all understand and know very well, but art is much more than that. Art and artists were expressing the problems all around- political deadlocks, rights violations, social ills, disenchantment, violence and frustrations- but where were the solutions? Art, after all, is a vehicle for change. Forget seeking solutions, that happens later, only after there is some new thinking, some fresh ideas, and novel approaches being put forth. The art in art is the revolutionary ideas and thoughts! (For the sake of space and conciseness, we will only discuss the few pieces that left a lasting impact).
For some time, the Modern Miniature has been a medium by which the complications and social phenomenon relating to the geo-political scenario of the American-lead War on Terror have been expressed. Be it the rise of religious fundamentalism, identity crisis, obscurantism, criminal activity, political deals, power dynamics, questions relating to women and honor, polarization and increased weapon-carrying among the youth, and deteriorating education standards and systems, the Modern Miniature that was pioneered by NCA professor Zahoor-ul-Akhlaq gave voice to these issues. However, this year, our Miniaturists turned their attention inwards, perhaps noting the ills that have long been present in our nation, and how they are perhaps at the bottom of all our problems. Most innovating and remarkable among the Miniatures were the pieces made by Tazeem Anwar of NCA Rawalpindi. Using the Pakistani passport as her 'canvas', this marker of identity cleverly showed how hunger for power and insincerity from our political leadership and bureaucratic corruption and redundancy are what Pakistan is most identified with.
Painter Shazia Ismail keeps with the theme of identity and employs the everyday zipper as a motif in her pieces. Perhaps lending a comment on how a single person is a combination of many layers and costumes, roles and personas. Most interesting was her piece in which a cat is being opened, with layer after layer unzipping, to reveal the face of a woman. Women are notoriously thought to be competitive with one another, incapable of truly liking their fellow females, and are therefore categorized as catty. The catty nature of women is often a form of defense that they acquire, to protect their vulnerable egos and to hide their low sense of worth. But beyond all these images that are purposefully projected, there lies inside the soul of a woman, and it is possible that Shazia is exclaiming that inside every catty woman is a real person. Perhaps it was time we all learned to be honest with ourselves, as well as honest with others.
In a country where the arts are still dominated by the two-dimensional, it has been refreshing to see year after year how interest is increasing in sculpture, an art form that explores the third dimension. Five sculptures had truly managed to grasp the social contradictions and anomalies that make Pakistan what it is, with a certain ease and simplicity that even the most senior of sculptors would be proud of.
Quack II, by Shan-e- Rabab Naqvi of Karachi University, was comprised of a hundred or so little yellow deformed yellow ducks, a familiar toy that many of us grew up playing with. The disfiguring of these 'duckies' (as they are affectionately called) is a sign of our lost innocence. Every child enters adulthood by experiencing some sort of trauma that forces them to mature; be it the painful realization of how selfish humans are, even those that claim to care for us, or the shocking revelation that ideas of equality, social mobility and progress are nothing but empty slogans, or the troublesome observations that we make while growing up, as we encounter the unfair and double standards that determine how gender, race, and socio-economic status determine our opportunities and our treatment. The shock is enough to turn us all into quacks!
The pieces Twisted, by Saba Iqbal who studied at Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, and one by Kishwar Kiani from Fatima Jinnah Women's University, are a testimony to the almost nonsensical manner by which our collective logic is dictated. Boxed-in mentalities that lack any depth serve to create a twisted, imbalanced and rather unstable structure, perhaps a metaphor for the society that has been created, and is teetering constantly in order to survive. The candy-striped peacoat made up of fiberglass, holding a joker's or court jester's head was reminiscent of the Mad Hatter character from the fairytale Alice in Wonderland, a character who attempted murder and for whom time has stopped progressing as a punishment. Always stuck at six o' clock, the Mad Hatter is in a never-ending tea party - much like how our country is always stuck at a time that lies on the brink of chaos and progress, simultaneously, because Pakistan's past leadership refused to look forward, and rather aimed for maximum personal gains in the present and short-term.
The abuse that Pakistan faces at the hands of the West is often decried and complained about, but never do we examine the maltreatment we Pakistanis perpetrate onto to our country and fellow citizens. Be it exploitation and violence, or just a simple act of disrespect, we hold very little value for the lives of our own people, or for the very land that is home. Sacred, by Shahzad Ali of BNU, is a comical expression of the most serious abuse that we perpetrate to our country- our utter disrespect. Shahzad's message is about changing from within- if we want the respect of others, we need to first respect ourselves.
Though two-dimensional, collage-making seemed to fall out of vogue recently, with some of the most gifted of collage artists turning their energies towards painting. This year marks the return of the collage, and according to one collector who was present at the exhibition, "…this is an extension of the environmental movement. Artists are now creating works of art using scraps of materials that would otherwise have been sent to the landfill or given to a 'kabarhia' for some cash".
A collage is a composition where various components and forms come together to create an entirely new and whole expression. The environmental message seemed most clear in the large-scale works by Saba Ahmed, a graduate of Bahauddin Zakariyah University. Using scraps of leather, the artist created one village landscape in a combination of brown, ochre, tan, maroon and red leathers, and a scene in which a staircase dominates, using black, white, grey, and silver leathers. Evidently scraps from the leather industry of Pakistan, the viewer is immediately reminded of the familiar leather objects that we see and use- be it a wallet, gloves, a purse, or shoes. Two portraits by Ayesha Maryam from Bahauddin Zakariyah University were created using everyday items. One was entirely composed of paper-waste that comes from a hole puncher, while the other was a combination of buttons, rhinestones, and 'dori' used to embroider fabrics. Ayesha's and Saba's pieces took familiar objects from our mechanized, consumer-driver and assembly-lined existence, and transformed them into pieces of art.
Combining the environmental message and collage-making techniques, the next group of works created art that truly interacted with the exhibition space and with the audience, making them installation pieces. Karachi University graduate Sadia Kazmi's hanging installation took on the form of stalagtites and stalagmites, the naturally occurring formations found inside caves. However, the organic shapes of her pieces were anything but naturally derived, as she transfixed tiny yearbook photographs onto a mesh of wires. The tiny passport-sized photographs were folded in the manner of origami, and was perhaps a comment on how with the rise of digital media and social networking sites, the yearbooks of old, also popularly known as face-books in the Ivy Leagues, are being replaced and made obsolete.
Among other things being made obsolete is perhaps the traditional classroom settings where education takes place. Sara Najum from the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture presented a chalk board, a typical feature found in all educational settings, from nursery schools to universities. Scrawled and scribbled upon, with a cascade of cobwebs growing from the board and reaching the floor, the piece was telling about the growing use of electronic media and digital technology in the dissemination of education. Online-classes, distance learning programs, and the mass availability of information are making education less and less confined, and more about bits of information rather than about the interactions and experiences that make one truly educated.
While changes are being ushered by technology, there are still many other institutions that remain untouched, thankfully. Transformation by Tehreem Yousaf of Fatima Jinnah University for Women created an optical illusion in which two paintings were presented on a multi-plane surface. Showing herself and her mother at different angles, Tehreem shows the untouched and unchanging relationship that mothers and daughters share, where bits of each person's individuality are intertwined, sometimes so much that it is impossible to see the difference.
A range of issues presented themselves among the paintings that were on display at the 10th Emerging Talent exhibition. From personal trials to global problems, the painters that graduated this year were doing more than just showing us the problems - they were showing the implications and human cost of these issues. Mahwish Parvaiz, a student from Punjab University, painted Slave of our Possession and The Escape, two paintings that capture the inhumane nature in which the capitalist system has commoditized humans. The lucrative, but dangerous business of human trafficking victimizes people that are already victims of social immobility and socio-economic injustices. This enslavement of human lives is as much a reality in Pakistan, as much of the population's fate and survival is decided upon by the land-owning feudal lords, the capitalist industry owners, and the tribal leaders that make up the powers that be. The fate of these unfortunate souls seems to be no better than that of the rat that is shown in Leftovers, by Sahar Ghanchi of Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture. Much like the rat that is nibbling on the leftover food on a set table, the masses under the control of the powerful-few have only the scraps to look forward to, as any supposed wealth trickles down towards them.
In keeping much of the population enslaved, women are perhaps the only population that remain enslaved at every economic and social level- primarily because women are the only group of people that are intimately involved with their abusers- be it a father, a brother, husband or son. Domestic violence has gained attention as privately owned media channels have begun giving coverage to such incidents, while NGOs and rights groups have successfully spread awareness about domestic violence in its many forms. Perhaps one of the most heart-wrenching forms of domestic violence are the acid attacks, committed by men with skewed and twisted ideas about their honor and pride- as if committing an act of violence is the appropriate means to gain respect. Sundus Tariq, from NCA Rawalpindi, painted a painful portrait of an acid-attack victim, who is although alive, is soul less, as she peers down with eyes that have no life. Alongside the painting was a poem titled Qubool Hai, written on paper that too had endured burns. The poem juxtaposes the colors and celebrations of a wedding, and tragically melts them into domestic violence and abuse. Sundus fears that for many women who accept their marriage vows by saying the traditional phrase 'qubool hai', they are also accepting the unsaid promises of anger, envy, control and violence from their partners, and in-laws too.
While the tragedies confronted by large groups of people, be it enslavement or abuse, no one is safe from the pain and sadness of loss.
For Karachi School of Art student Sohni Naz, the loss she clearly experienced has seemingly been an ongoing process. Though it is unclear whom she mourns, the diptych Rabta II shows that she has now come to terms with the loss, and realizes that no one is ever entirely gone, as memories and shared loved never die. Perhaps the overall theme among the 200-plus pieces that were on display was revolution. However, the revolution that these artists were discussing was certainly not the military coups that Pakistan is all too familiar with, nor is it the violent uprising of the have-nots as purported by Karl Marx. Rather, it is revolution on the personal scale. The common message from our emerging talent was that change begins from within- within ourselves, within our own country.
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