Written by: Nimra Khan
Posted on: January 03, 2022 | 
| 中文
Sana Arjumand's Artworks
The recent show at Sanat Initiative is curated by Muhammad Zeeshan, who draws on his roots as a cinema board painter in his youth and his keen interest in film to conceive this show. “We know that two dots come together to make a line,” he says, “It is the same for video; 24 frames per second means that each second of video shows 24 distinct still images, but the speed of how this is shown tricks our brains into seeing smooth motion in video form. It becomes a continuous moving image.” Thus, the still image becomes the unit without which video cannot exist.
For this show Zeeshan takes inspiration from Bengali filmmaking legend Satyajit Ray and his 1955 Indian Bengali-language epic drama film Pather Panchali, which was an adaptation of a classic novel by the Bengali author Bibhutibhusan Bandyopadhyay. The film was made through an interesting process, translated onto screen directly from a storyboard, without a direct screenplay. On the 100th birth anniversary of Satyajit Ray, Zeeshan brings together four artists, Sana Arjumand, R.M Naeem, Irfan Gul Dahri and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, to recreate this method and create works that mimic a storyboard that functions as a screenplay, depicting a sequence of events that narrates a story. The artists interpret this premise in their own unique styles and take full advantage of the endless possibilities it opens up.
Shift by Sana Arjumand
Sana Arjumand presents her narrative in the most direct form holding closest to the storyboard format, with three small paintings followed by a large dramatic climax which talks about the process of conception through childlike euphemism. A bird rendered in the artist’s signature style flies in from a distance, carrying what appears to be a clot of blood, a ‘seed’, which it then drops on the figure waiting down below. In the final image, “Divine Intervention”, we see the previously hazy figure depicted with more clarity, holding onto the seed which has now taken on the appearance of a leaf as it is touched by a second hand appearing out of nowhere, seemingly belonging to a divine being. We witness that moment of miracle from a spiritual perspective, and how it transforms the receiver of the divine blessing.
Call the angels by their names - 2 by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s narrative seems less linear, yet visually resembles a rough sketch of a storyboard. The artist seems to be talking about the casualties of war waged by those in power. An amalgam of found images, drawings and scribbled notes put together in a cyanotype print on muslin, the works depict the aggrandization and ascension of a masculine archetype while the common man fights his war. The juxtaposition of Sindhi cultural motifs and pre-historic visual references create linkages and another layer of commentary.
Roti, Kapra aur Makan - 2 by Irfan Gul Dahri
Irfan Gul Dahri’s series of paintings create connections on a conceptual level. The title “Roti, Kapra, aur Makan” provides an indication of a narrative unfolding; they strive for a better life that consumes us all and makes us lose sight of what’s truly important. This is done through a re-imagining of some of the imagery from the film Pather Panchali, which has a similar message. The show is inspired from the artist’s signature fantastical imagery exuding a childlike innocence. The fairy-like protagonist with wings creates a dreamlike state, perhaps a fantasy for which we all strive. The idyllic scenery within which she walks is heavy with symbolism, the tall trees laden with images of aspirations of home and family. We see child-like renditions of scenes from the movie, the two siblings looking at the passing train in a field of wheat, dressed in their village garb and a view of a dilapidated home in the background.
One Linear 2 by R.M. Naeem
R.M Naeems series of paintings and prints take a shape that most closely meets the curatorial premise in the way they are presented, creating a linear, second-by-second sequence of events. The same sequence laid out over five still images is repeated five times. Each time one image down the sequence is painted in black and white acrylic on canvas, while the rest are painted yellow over print on canvas. The sequence depicts a young boy studying an image of a tree with the white outline of a home painted over it, then slowly entering into it and becoming a part of it. Perhaps here too we see a re-imagining of the film that the show is inspired from, contemplating the importance of a house and if it is worth losing oneself over it.
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