Written by: Nayha Jehangir Khan
Posted on: November 12, 2019 | 
| 中文
Inside COMO museum
In Pakistan, there is a general misconception that Pakistani art is limited to folk ancestry, historical heritage, Islamic geometry or ethnic aesthetic. The exhibits in national museums often showcase textile, wood carving, stone sculpture or truck art created by local artisans. But national galleries primarily focus on cultural parameters, public art has taken center stage in the country’s art scene. Biennales and art fairs have helped create an alternative conversation to the mainstream commercialisation of art. While these are essential for bringing art out of galleries and onto the streets, there is still a need for dedicated spaces that enable contemporary art to intellectually engage the public.
The Contemporary/Modern Museum of Art (COMO), located in Gulberg Lahore, has plans to develop an art ecosystem that will help build a strong connection between contemporary art and the public. The COMO museum building, formerly a residential home, was designed by Nayyar Ali Dada in the 1950s. The organic form of the building is enhanced by its gentle, uninterrupted arches and high ceilings. There are purpose-built wings, that expand the museum space. They are connected to multiple skylights, that allow natural light to enter into space without interrupting the walls.
Outdoor Sitting Area
The building has retained much of its original form, with only cosmetic enhancements, due to the efforts of the well-known, Lahore-based architecture firm, Raees Faheem Associates. The original window arches have a unique spatial quality, while the walls are white with black accents framing the windows and staircase.
The museum is the torchbearer of thematic and long-durational exhibitions in Pakistan. Currently, they are showcasing their second group show, titled Self Portrait in The Age of The “Selfie”, which has 45 artists with 48 works, and is in its third month running. The show features a range of emerging artists, to mid-career artists, to established professionals. They come together under the close curatorial attention of its founder, Seher Tareen and Faraz AAmer Khan, the manager.
(L) Amna Rahman's Self Portrait and (R) Khadijah Rehman's Portrait
Seher is the CEO of Studio S, a female empowerment fashion brand with a popular collection titled “Boss Lady”. She completed her masters from Central Saint Martins, London, with a special focus on art curation. Faraz has an academic background in Miniature Painting from the National College of Arts, has been engaged in artist collectives around Lahore, such as “The Creative Process”. Together, Seher and Faraz curate with razor-sharp focus, as their primary goal is to create an atmosphere for artistic dialogue and intellectual discussion. The attention to detail provides the pause and necessary transition between each piece, but also makes the museum space feel expansive and nuanced.
Influencer by Maham Nadeem
While artistic representation in Pakistan is often overlooked, and taken for granted by gallerists, COMO endeavors to provide a wholesome space and ample time for artists to converse with the museum’s visitors. Seher recounted, “Growing up around art, with my mother collecting ever since I can remember. I have always had a pull towards it. I dabbled with drawing and painting myself, but I realized early on that having the skill set does not necessarily mean you are an artist; that is a much deeper calling and an unexplainable gift.”
For “Selfie” Seher further supplemented the show by incorporating artworks from private collections, including her own collection and that of Rohtas Gallery, Islamabad. The painting by Zarah David of herself, paired next to her own self being painted by her ex-husband, Colin David, was a wonderful exploration of portraiture, through both the eyes of the artist and also as a subject for her father.
(L) Colin David's Portrait of his ex-wife Zahra David and (R) Zahra David's self portrait
COMO also has several social programs under Faraz’s eye, including “Artist Talks”, collaborations with Lahore Biennale and Lahore Literature Festival, guided tours for schools and university students, and growing internship programs for aspiring artists. Artist Talks are held every Sunday, and usually the artists that are part of the ongoing exhibition come in for a casual meet and greet. This creates the opportunity for the artist to control their own narrative surrounding their work, while opening up to unique and fresh interpretations from museum visitors. Anum Lasharie, a painter and one of the contributors to the “Selfie” exhibition, spoke at length about her investigations and painting language in a relaxed atmosphere, in the presence of family and friends.
Untitled by Anum Lasharie
COMO regularly facilitates school outreach programs by inviting students from both schools and universities to visit their museum exhibitions. Universities such as NCA, BNU, Institute for Art and Culture and Punjab University have already made rounds to see the exhibition. Local secondary Schools, such as Lahore Grammar School, are regular visitors, along with out-of-town students from places like Faisalabad, who visit the museum on day-trips.
In their first year, COMO had invited several overseas Pakistani artists to explore themes of diaspora and displacement in their previous exhibition, titled One, “The show is inspired by the paradoxical concept of ‘one’ – the beginning, the first, the only. A universal unit of singularity that can hold the concept of the divine, one is the paradox of the finite and the infinite. It is the start, the end and all that lies in-between”, was stated in the curatorial statement. COMO will continue to engage with other South Asian and international artists in its future exhibitions.
(Left) Winner Winner Chicken Dinner by Mina Mohsin and Untitled by Imran Kazmi (Right)
Such gatherings are the beginning of a change in artist representation in Pakistan, different from the outdated red ribbon-cutting ceremonies and official press release formats. COMO is not interested in creating a clientele, or printing invoices for selling artwork under their roof. They aspire to collect a permanent collection of contemporary art in Pakistan through an organic process of open calls for exhibitions. They invite artists to collaborate, experiment and engage with interdisciplinary methodologies.
(Left) Selfie with Guddu by Razin Rubin and Untitled 2 by Anjum Alix Noon (Right)
With exhibitions planned well into 2021, COMO is actively collaborating with national and international cultural bodies that will provide artists with the space to showcase contemporary artworks on their terms.
For more pictures please click here.
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