Written by: Muhammad Hamza
Posted on: April 14, 2026 | 
A Garden of Fables
Step into Zaal Gallery and you will meet a room full of hands. Not ordinary hands, but sculpted ones that feel alive. Jibran Shahid’s exhibition “As If Remembered” turns the simple human hand into something magical. Through bright colors, careful painting, and clever shapes, the artist shows us how hands can hold feelings, old stories, and hidden memories. It is a quiet yet powerful reminder that our bodies often say what words cannot.
Shahid focuses on the hand because it has always been a special tool for people. Long before writing existed, hands drew pictures on cave walls. In South Asian dance and religion, special hand positions called mudras carry deep meanings like peace, strength, or blessing. Shahid takes this old wisdom and makes it new. His sculptures do not copy the past. Instead, they feel like pieces of memory that have floated up from deep inside us. The title “As If Remembered” fits perfectly.
The works look like things we once knew but had forgotten. Now they are back, painted in fresh colors and full of life.
Open Field features dozens of hands standing together in soft blue and white tones and hues. Delicate lines show birds flying, fish swimming, flowers blooming, and clouds drifting across the skin. The hands reach, point, and curl in different ways, as if they are having a silent conversation. Some fingers stretch upward as though they are greeting the sky. Others bend gently, inviting you closer. Looking at them feels peaceful, like walking through a calm garden where nature and people live in harmony. The blue and white style reminds us of fine old porcelain, the kind that used to be found in China, yet the energy feels completely surreal. The hands are not just body parts; they seem to be in conversation with themselves.
Open Field by Jibran Shahid
A Garden of Fables is a lively set of five hands bursting with color. Each one tells its own story through painted animals and scenes. One hand shows golden deer leaping through green forests. Another has twisting dragons and bright orange creatures climbing purple branches. A third hand opens wide to reveal trees full of pink blossoms and hidden tigers. The deep reds, sunny yellows, and rich blues make the sculptures glow. The gestures change from hand to hand: one points with wonder, another cups the air as if holding a secret. These works feel like storybooks you can hold. They pull you into old fables and let your imagination run free. Shahid seems to say that stories live inside our bodies, ready to wake up when we pay attention with mindful observation.
Some hands morph from their fingertips, and that is an intricate detail that allows the artist to bring something stationary to life.
Dominion is a closed fist painted with a fierce tiger, a small frog, and dark twisting branches against a deep blue sky. The tiger looks ready to roar. The fist itself feels tight and powerful, as if it controls everything around it.
Dominion
The Conqueror takes this strength even further. Sharp metal-studded spikes rise from the knuckles like armor or weapons. Inside the painted scenes, tigers battle horses and dragons across a red and purple surface. The spikes make the fist look ready for war, yet the careful brushwork and flowing colors add beauty. Together, these two works explore power. They ask us to think about how strength can protect or hurt, and how it lives in every human gesture, in the way we make moral decisions. Those studs feel like proof that peace can easily be disrupted. The piece radiates rawness on a deeply personal level.
Bound Instinct shows two hands linked by a dark chain. The pink surfaces are covered with red octopuses and swirling dragons. The chain pulls the hands together, suggesting that we are sometimes tied by our own wild feelings or by outside forces. Yet the fingers still move and express emotion. The work feels both sad and hopeful, as though even when we are held back, something inside us keeps reaching.
In The Guardian, two large hands stand side by side on flower-shaped bases. Red and blue colors flow like flames or water across the skin. Tigers sit calmly among roses while a small bee buzzes nearby. The hands look protective, as if they are watching over something precious. The flower bases add a gentle, spiritual touch. These guardians feel warm and strong at the same time. They remind us that care and power can live together in the same gesture.
The Guardian
The exhibition also includes two bigger, more dramatic sculptures that seem to break free from the hand shape.
The Wanderer turns a hand into a running figure with wide wings and a long flowing cape. Painted birds and clouds cover the body. It looks as though it is moving fast through the air, full of freedom and adventure.
The Ascendant goes even higher. Blue and orange wings spread wide while the body twists upward in a joyful climb. These pieces feel as though the hands have grown beyond their usual form. They show how a simple gesture can become a whole story of journey and rising above troubles.
The Ascendant (detail)
What makes Shahid’s art special is the way he mixes old and new. He draws ideas from ancient Gandhara sculptures that were once painted in bright colors but later lost their paint. He brings that lost color back with modern paints and materials. At the same time, he uses digital tools and careful handcrafting together. Tradition and today’s world work as partners, not enemies. This mix feels very Pakistani. Our culture has always blended many influences, from ancient times through many empires, into something rich and layered. Jibran’s sculptures celebrate this mix instead of hiding it.
In his own words, Shahid says he wants to rebuild the painted body of sculpture. He sees the hand as a symbol for big ideas: creation, strength, protection, change, and rising above.
The sculptures are not cold or distant. They feel warm and human. The smooth surfaces invite your eyes to travel across painted stories. Some have extra details like chains or spikes that add texture and weight. Others stand alone, quiet and thoughtful. Together, they create an atmosphere that is both calm and exciting. You leave the gallery feeling as though you have learned a new language: the language of hands.
The Conqueror
Shahid’s work stands out because it is easy to enjoy yet still carries real depth. Through these sculptures, we can think about memory, culture, and the body’s wisdom. In a time when many artists chase shock or speed, Jibran chooses care and stillness.
“As If Remembered” is more than a display. It is a gentle invitation to listen to our bodies again. In these sculpted hands and fists, we find pieces of ourselves: our history, our feelings, our shared stories. Jibran Shahid has given us art that speaks without sound, remembers without books, and connects us across time. Walk among the hands. Let them talk to you. The conversation will fill you with every kind of emotion that a hand can portray. There will always be a sense of belonging and longing brewing like a tamed fire.
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