Written by: Nayha Jehangir Khan
Posted on: March 21, 2019 | 
| 中文
One Thousand and One Flowers by Naveen Syed (Image by WCLA)
In the Walled City (Androon Sheher) of Lahore, the walk from Delhi Gate via the Royal Trail (Shahi Guzargah) to Wazir Khan Chowk, takes around three minutes for residents of the neighbourhood. However, on 15th and 16th March, 2019, “Sheherezade: The Walled City Anthology” created an urban intervention that took visitors on a 5 hour long exploration of the same route. This was a communal experience consisting of streams of visuals, music, poetry, objects, mystics, ideas and thousands of people. Visitors could travel back and forth between Sabeel Walli Galli, Phullan Walli Galli, Galli Soorjan Singh and the Dina Nath Well, viewing and interacting with various site specific temporary exhibits, art installations, multimedia time-based projects and historical heritage sites.
“Sheherezade: The Walled City Anthology” transformed traditional viewing of art by combining architectural, technological and scientific understandings. The indoor and outdoor spaces, street corners, havelis and shrines, had multimedia urban and historical design interventions. This reclamation of space, through an explorative walk, encouraged visitors to act as spectators as well as participants who matched the constantly changing pace of the street traffic, seamlessly entering and exiting fully formed worlds, carefully designed by each artist.
The restoration and conservation of heritage sites in Androon Sheher has been a subject of intense socio-economic study for many years. Organizations such as The Walled City of Lahore headed by Kamran Lashari, together with the diligent efforts of Numaish Karachi, Haast-o-Neest, Samaaj, Rearts, Madlab and British Council, enticed residents of Lahore to visit the Old City and explore these neighbourhoods. An intersection of social experiences and artistic expressions, and the blurring of lines between art and life, were the key elements. Participating artists chose a social interventionist perspective, designed around the art of storytelling and poetic traditions.
Visitors were welcomed by the basanti yellow colour of “One Thousand and One Flowers” by Naveen Syed, and followed the glow of hanging lanterns into Phullon Walli Galli, titled “Sitaroon Se Aagay Jahan Aur Bhi Hain.” They caught their breath at Khan Tea House on Galli Soorjan Singh, under quirky tea cup chandeliers titled, “Doodh Batti.” Both these installations were by Numaish Karachi.
Next, the visitors gathered in Sabeel Walli Gali, under a large scale building mapping projection by international artists, Asa Calow and Dan Hett, or were found standing in Phullon Walli Galli drawing on a projection wall in “Bostaan 2.0” by Misbah Azhar, Amin Gilani, Meher Malik, Rida Rais, Sumbul Zehra of Habib University. The open air Oculus Rift Virtual Reality “Fresco,” designed by Asa Calow of Madlab, used a Unity Games Engine, high definition 3D photogrammetry, and complex mathematical systems creating a surreal visual simulation. This time and space bending experience happened in a courtyard of Sabeel Walli Galli, hidden away from the main market. Visitors encountered larger than life installations such as “Disruption as Rapture,” a 10 minute long animated film by Shazia Sikander, being screened on a 15 foot structure, in the middle of Wazir Khan Chowk. The work was next to the more intimate, “This Body of Work” by Affan Baghpatti, curiously observed by passersby.
Galli Soorjan Singh, a recognized heritage site, has 23 buildings of which 18 date back to the late 19th century. The air of the Galli Soorjan Singh was thick with mystic devotion. The tinsel coverings for Mazaar Sufi Deen Mohammad, inspired by Islamic geometric motifs, were made by Hast-O-Neest, Institute of Traditional Studies and Arts Lahore, run by Taimoor Khan Mumtaz. Residents of the area joined in and participated in the recital at the Mazaar Sufi Deen.
The team of Hast-o-Neest not only highlighted historical spiritual sites, but also co-curated a musical evening with Sur Mandal, an initiative of SAMAAJ founded by Sehyr Mirza and Ammar Aziz. The musical evening filled the air of the Shahi Hammam with harmonious frequencies from the ancient tradition of North Indian Classical Music. The melodies reverberated down the dark alleyways on both sides of the Hammam.
The atmosphere was hospitable, and friends and families could be seen loitering in the streets. Tour guides from British Council led visitors to the art installations, while generously imparting historical information about the buildings. 25 dedicated and efficient volunteers from FC College, also helped visitors find their way and explained the installations, having prior knowledge of each artist and their philosophy. In order to execute such a large scale event, Rearts, a next-generation artist & talent management company, had been brought in for operations, logistics and production management.
Numaish Karachi’s team had shown passion for their project, since they began working in August 2018. The installations ‘Doodh Batti’ and ‘Sitaroun Say Agay Jehan Aur Bhi Hain,’ were just two of the many works they had curated. An artist collective and urban intervention initiative, Numaish Karachi, runs on the unfaltering optimism of designers, artists, filmmakers, scientists and engineers. The team consists of Asmara Faiq, Ali Rizvi, Meher Malik, Misbah Azhar, Saima Zaidi and Zoha Jabbar. The pieces for the Walled City were designed after several visits with students from Habib University. They had been transported from Karachi to Lahore for this two day event via railway
The restored Havelis of Galli Soorjan Singh had technology infused art within them, such as “Stellar” by Sarah Khan, who used microbial art, to compose drawings in petri dishes depicting al Akbar (largest constellation in the Northern Hemisphere) visible from the Walled City. This living art, made from bacterial cells, brought together science, art and astronomy hanging in an old closet, transforming it into a cabinet of curiosity and imagination. “Noah’s Ark” arranged in the next room, used sensors, wood and LED lights to create an interactive experience. The calligraphy on the wooden box lit up with close hand contact, designed by an interdisciplinary team of computer science and communication design students from Habib University.
The Wazir Khan Chowk became a concord of the entire exhibit; within its courtyard were artisans Ziauddin Saheb and Aqeel Akhtar, making a sitar and binding together tablas, respectively. When descending down the Chowk stairs, the “Jharoka Pavillion” could be seen, a kinesthetic steel wall, coated and mirror finished with gold tinting that reflected the surrounding environment. This interactive screen, comprising of 335 highly reflective triangular modules, was a reference to the mosaics of Sheesh Mahal. The artists Umar Hameed, Raza Zahid and Saima Zaidi had created this work keeping in mind the laborious Jharokas from the Mughal era. The work stood parallel to Noor Ali Chaghani’s handmade miniature terracotta bricks, which had been knitted together to create a fluid surreal wave that broke the equilibrium of the ground it lay on. “Overflow,” highlighted the historic Dina Nath Well which is now dry, and yet within these 18, 000 tiny bricks were traces of water.
These two magical evenings at Androon Sheher were a visual extravaganza of art installations and architectural history that each visitor will carry within their memory for the rest of their lives. The moments experienced on the silent street corners, and in orchestral courtyards littered with the sounds of people, shops, homes and motorbikes, are essential to our understanding of The Walled City’s nervous system. Behind its swarms of life, rushing traffic, and countless walls, lie a constellation of stories interconnected and worth revisiting frequently.
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