Written by: Jovita Alvares
Posted on: October 29, 2019 | 
| 中文
Boats at Keamari Series 1958-59 by Rasheed Araeen
Karachi has witnessed an eruption of art exhibitions this past week. Among them was Koel gallery's latest opening, ‘Beyond the Waters’, curated by Amra Ali. The exhibition features a group of well-rounded contemporary artists, who pay tribute to the earlier work of Rasheed Araeen. Araeen explored the beaches and harbour of Karachi shortly after the Subcontinent’s partition in 1947. The gallery provides a reflective space in which Araeen’s ideas, expressed in his written works, are able to resound through his own pieces, along with the art of a newer generation of Pakistani artists.
Rasheed Araeen has been a pioneer of Minimalist sculpture in Britain and through this exhibition, the viewers are given the opportunity to view the progression of his practice over decades. The audience first comes into contact with his ink and watercolour paintings of the boats and sea. The works give an interesting insight, as the audience learns that Araeen’s studies of the boats as abstractions, eventually led to the emergence of the minimalist shape of the triangle that later became a part of his work.
Sohail Zuberi, whose practice has been heavily influenced by walking alongside the waters of the sea, uses Araeen’s paintings as the centre-star for his own work for this exhibition. Using triangular-shaped found pieces of wood, locally called Horri, and used in boat building, the artist creates minimalist structures that remind the viewers of the boat abstractions of Araeen. The continuation of thought flows from Araeen to Zuberi.
Archaeologies of Tomorrow by Sohail Zuberi
Similarly, thoughts and visuals of the sea are reiterated through the indigo paintings of Noorjehan Bilgrami. A large part of Bilgrami’s oeuvre has revolved around her exploration of the indigo pigment. Her use of the pigment recreates the visuals of deep blue waters, and evokes a meditative experience, much like watching the calm ebb and flow of waves. This feeling is further strengthened as the viewer comes into contact with Bilgrami’s video installation, ‘Tasawur e Nir’, which overlaps footage of the Indian Ocean, the process of indigo dye-making and the gestural strokes of the artists. As the sequences overlap and merge into one, the viewer is left with the same serenity that comes from watching the magnificence of the sea.
The Indigo Sea I by Noorjehan Bilgrami
Opposite Araeen’s paintings are his red circular disks that are accompanied with images of them being thrown into the sea. With each image, the objects flow with the sea, mapping out its movement and direction of flow. Zeerak Ahmed, a sound artist, and Farrukh Adnan both share similar ideas in their work. Centring on the idea of archaeology, Adnan’s delicate drawings are composed of several linear marks that archive a forgotten city now buried underground. Like the disks, Adnan maps out the submerged land through several drawings. Ahmed presents a sound installation of the deep sea along with a linear drawing detailing various encounters on the sand. The works also reminds the viewer of Araeen’s minimalistic style.
Land II by Farrukh Adnan
Araeen’s geometric and mechanical shapes which also appear in his painting ‘Peace II’ from 1963, connect to the iconic sculptures of Noor Ali Changani. His realistic miniature pieces are of construction and deconstruction at various stages. Usman Saeed also responds to the exhibition uniquely. Along with his painting describing nature, he presents a photobook that visually explores the rivers in the Punjab during monsoon season, and the strength of the mighty water can be truly relished from his work.
Peace II by Rasheed Araeen
Karachi’s identity is dominated by its proximity to the sea, making it one of the most integral and unique cities to Pakistan. But more than providing to the economy of the state, the waters have mingled into the bloods of its inhabitants making both bodies one. So upon entering the gallery and being greeted by the works of Rasheed Araeen, which are then dexterously curated within a mix of contemporary Pakistani artists, that feeling of connectedness reappears and then reverberates as the viewer moves throughout the space.
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Video message by Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed on Black Day of Indian Occupation of Kashmir, 27 October 1947, when Indian military troops forcibly occupied Kashmir illegally, claiming a fraudulent ‘Instrument of Accession’ which never existed as documented by eminent British historian Alastair Lamb! Kashmir & Palestine are examples of illegal occupation & continued Resistance to Repression! There are so many commonalities in Kashmir & Palestine: both under brutal military occupation of foreign powers, both are facing an indigenous, popular, spontaneous & widespread Resistance & Uprising, both are in violation of UN Resolutions which haven’t been implemented, both are witnessing an attempted change in the demographic balance, both are facing the use of rape as a weapon of war, both are testimony to double-standards & hypocrisy of Western powers on human rights & fundamental rights, and both conflicts have an element of racism and Islamophobia, while enduring peace, security and stability will remain elusive in both regions, South Asia & Middle East, until these issues are resolved in accordance with popular aspirations.
