Written by: Nimra Khan
Posted on: May 17, 2023 | 
| 中文
Casting Nets At The Ebbing Tide by Masuma Halai Khwaja
Boundaries, both physical and abstract, allow us to define the world around us. It tells us where one thing ends and another begins, both physically and conceptually. Demarcating lines on paper create a form; translated into the physical world, it forges nations, which attach themselves to intangible boundaries of the sociopolitical nature that help us define ourselves in relationship to others. Personal boundaries allow us to engender a sense of safety, and when this extends into the public realm it helps define moral, ethical and legal codes of conduct that organize our civilized world. At the same time, a boundary can restrict and constrain, suffocating the already marginalized while catering to the comforts of the powerful elite.
Raizes das Chuvas; The geography of our mother by Sahar Ansari
In the latest group show at VM Art Gallery, “Exploring Boundaries” curated by FS Karachiwala, six artists respond to, and interpret the concept of boundaries, literal and metaphorical, physical and intangible, real and imagined. The artists situate the notion of boundaries through their respective cultural, historical, geographical and post-colonial contexts.
Aqeel Solangi uses a physical representation of a demarcation between private and public, a city wall, and focuses on the patterns etched upon it by the passage of time. His paintings, though emerging from a tangible phenomenon, are elusive and ethereal, organic explorations of form and texture. As these cracks and patches are filled in with the artist’s signature flower pattern, it is as if man-made boundaries are ravaged by the harsh seasons and are in turn restored through nature.
Songs from the Silent Wall by Aqeel Solangi
Huma Mulji’s work is similar in theory, yet poles apart in theme and visual. Here too the artist looks at the physical boundary of the grille, but in her work the clearly defined and fixed border is a mechanism of both protection and division, separating public from private, but also laying bare our vulnerabilities and defining our class systems. The grille becomes a permeable border that filters the exposure and perhaps creates a sense of ignorance to public realities. In the context of the recent pandemic, the artist is “renegotiating the vulnerability of the individual body and the public realm”, which also touches upon notions of isolation for the sake of protection.
Point of View; Morning, Noon, Night by Huma Mulji
Hadia Moiz looks at boundaries from a cultural lens, re-imagining histories and re-shaping identity through an act of post-colonial purging. The dominant Eurocentric narrative of colonial history is dismantled through a literal erasure of the words written by Western scholars about miniature painting in miniature books. These 3D reliefs turn these books into the artist’s medium, who binds them shut and sculpts out the image with a scalpel in layers, re-contextualizing and reconstructing an alternate narrative as images from miniature manuscripts scattered across time, geography and cultures come together in one image. Thus, while some boundaries are re-established, other bounds are blurred and broken, in order to take back control and assert the relevance and authority of South Asian art historical forms as legitimate in their own right.
The Bundi Wall-Paintings in Rajasthan by Hadia Moiz
Another artist who also deals with themes of history and culture is Masuma Halai Khuwaja, who uses indigenous textiles that represent the rich and diverse cultural landscape of Pakistan. Weaving together personal and collective histories, and recontextualizing cultural heritage, the artist builds a narrative with an underlying post-colonial commentary. Her work often creates an interesting contrast between decorative crafts and processes, and representational imagery to express micro experiences with larger socio-political implications. Her work, “Casting Nets at the Ebbing Tide”, layers an Italian tapestry with South Asian embroideries to create an image of a fisherman casting a net over a rich couple enjoying a gondola ride. Not only does it hold post-colonial connotations, but also highlights class and racial divides.
Jamil Baloch is opposed to a myopic and one-dimensional view of society, and tries to represent the diversity and heterogeneity of human experience and existence. His coal black sculptures hide a wealth of bright hues which are an abstraction of the vibrant indigenous crafts re-articulated through a modern visual language. This also becomes a metaphor for the disparity between perceptions and inner reality. Through his work, Baloch seeks to refute these false perceptions, and break these socio-political barriers through the themes and commentary in his work.
Untitled by Jamil Baloch
While boundaries are necessary to maintain order and create a sense of security, certain borders also create divisions that give way to various forms of violence. Yet, even bigger crimes against humanity can occur when established boundaries are violated for power and greed. In this group show, what we get is a comprehensive understanding of what a boundary is and what it can mean to diverse groups of people, and when it is imperative to maintain its sanctity and when it can become necessary to obliterate its entire premise.
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