Written by: Hamad Ali
Posted on: September 24, 2020 | 
Setting up Asad Kamran's Art Presentation at Cinema 73
'Public engagement' have become buzzwords in Pakistan's current cultural landscape; artists are trying to use interdisciplinary practices to re-think, re-imagine, and re-build public spaces. But how do we define 'engagement' and who forms the 'public'? Can 'engagement' be easily termed as multifaceted interpretations or encounter?
One particular art form that has been used to imagine geographies of culture, society, and belonging is film. In particular, Pakistanis have long enjoyed watching Bollywood films. An accessible and colorful film industry whose origins are so closely tied with our own film industry, watching blockbuster Bollywood films with family and friends, has always been a favorite pastime in South Asian households.
However, after the Pulwama attack in 2019, Bollywood movies were banned from the cinemas in Pakistan, taking away a vast audience. Amidst this changing circumstance, Cinema 73 found its bearings. Named after his neighborhood block, Asad Kamran began Cinema 73 as a passion project. Kamran is a Karachi based multidisciplinary artist with a degree in Architecture from the University of Edinburgh, UK.
According to Kamran, Cinema 73 was conceived through an ‘impulsive desire to showcase films’. While watching the Bollywood film, “Gully Boy”, which talked about owning one’s narrative and telling one’s story in a collecitve manner, Kamran had an 'epiphany.' If one movie can change and inspire people in such an impactful way, it could also be shared on the streets to inspire anyone who catches a glimpse of it. Kamran turned his garage into a space of engagement, where people of the neighborhood could come together and watch films for free. He began this venture by watching “Gully Boy” with his domestic help, and later expanded his audience to the wider neighborhood.
Watching Films at Cinema 73
Kamran carefully selects the films that would be shown in his space. He ensures that they aren't too avant-garde or niche, because he believes that Cinema 73 is a 'space which welcomes people from all walks of life’. Therefore, in its initial stages, Cinema 73 has focused on showing blockbuster films from both Pakistan and India.
Later, when Cinema 73 began to explore new horizons to include conversations on everyday issues, Kamran then started to screen films that were appropriate to the city's current sociopolitical landscape. Popular films could be used to support discussions around important issues like gender and climate change with the public. And space could make room for an open dialogue with people who otherwise wouldn't feel comfortable engaging in serious issues, or feel it is not worth their while to engage in discussions. Using his training as an architect, Kamran has meticulously researched and pondered over the nature of public spaces and public interactions in our society.
A Performance at Cinema 73
He wishes to keep alive that same spirit with his new venture – Open Studios. A brainchild of Noor Ahmed, a Karachi-based artist, and a curator, Open Studio is an experimental venture, in which artists will treat the community space of Cinema 73 as their personal studio to create and experiment. The space will be an intimate viewing of different artists’ work and processes. Over the weeks, artists will explore the fluid possibilities of that empty space, and morph it according to their practice and sensibilities.
Ahmed has actively used the phrase 'conceived and coordinated by' instead of 'curated by', because she believes that a 'curator and gallery are two very loaded terms', with exclusionary connotations. Opportunities to exhibit one’s work at a commercial gallery space or a nonprofit cultural organization, demand access to a particular social and cultural capital and networks that are often difficult to enter. Competition is frequent as there are only a set number of shows every year, and financial resources play a pivotal role in deciding what gets shown.
(Left) Asad Kamran and (Right) Noor Ahmad
Open Studio is a response to these limitations, in which Ahmed explores the idea of an alternative exhibition space that is as serious about showcasing art as it is about being accessible, staying true to the values of public engagement that Kamran holds dear at Cinema 73.
In this new collaborative venture, the philosophy is cemented on how space opens up to the people on the street. By bringing a studio space on the street, the engagement will become candid, where people who usually consume popular moving images will interact with visual art pieces.
Kamran is cognizant that the initial idea of Cinema 73 was to screen blockbuster films that appeal to a broader audience. But he also aims to start engaging with the same audience through different mediums of art and other ways of sharing experiences. He believes that Open Studios will help broaden and layer the perspectives of his current audience, making for more interesting and meaningful experiences.
Initiatives like Cinema 73, which bring art to public spaces, have the power to create a safe community space filled with people who have shared interests and can engage in meaningful conversations. They can also open several avenues of research and more ambitious collaborative ventures. For now, Open Studios at Cinema 73 will feature presentations by Asad Kamran, Ammara Jabbar, and Haider Ali Naqvi. The studio will open with Asad Kamran's work titled 'Portrait of a Time', on 24th September. Those interested can follow Cinema 73 on Instagram to stay updated on the latest exhibitions.
Some of Asad Kamran's artwork to be displayed at Cinema 73
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