The biggest Museum art show of Pakistani artists outside Pakistan, is the most impactful too

The opening of the Pakistan contemporary art exhibition last week in the newly inaugurated Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, has lived up to the expectations of art enthusiasts including Artwallaa ( see Opening of the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto is good news for Pakistani Arts).

Pakistan's most impactful international exhibition ever
Though fewer in numbers of participating artists, Artwallaa believes that this exhibition has become the largest and most impactful exhibition of Pakistan visual arts outside Pakistan. The only exhibition which comes close is the 'Hanging Fire' at the Asia Society New York in 2009 which was much more diverse in terms of participating artists but not impactful in terms of scale.

The reason why Artwallaa believes that the current exhibition rises above the "Hanging Fire' is because:

1. The Phenomenon of Imran Qureshi

 

The 'phenomenon' of Imran Qureshi had not happened in 2009. Even though Mr Qureshi had an installation at the Hanging Fire too, it was much smaller in size and impact. The extent and impact of Imran Qureshi's work at the Aga Khan Museum is much bigger (his RoofTop installation at The Met, NY was more intense and dramatic, but was only a standalone work). Mr Qureshi's current work also departed from his signature colours of blue and red, and instead focussed on different types of greens. This departure is important not only because of the change in colours but also because it spoke to the surroundings of the museum very well.

2. Scale and size matter

Besides Mr Qureshi's works, the scale of some other works impressed Artwallaa too. Aisha Khalid's carpet 'Your way begins on the other side', is eighteen feet tall and six feet  wide, and weighs 200 kilograms. Similarly, Atif Khan's 'One Another' measures 100 x 100 x 86 inches and weighs a mighty 800 kilograms.

 

Artwallaa is not obsessed with scale but the reality is that mankind has always used scale and size to impress their fellow humans in every era, and art is no exception (with no offence to miniature artists!). But more importantly, combine scale with excellent execution of artistic skills and brilliantly conceived original ideas, and you have artistic works which would last/impact many generations. Artwallaa believes that some of the works in this exhibition belong to that category.

3. Biggest body of works by a Pakistani artist outside Pakistan

The exhibition brings together the biggest body of works ever shown at a single exhibition by a single Pakistani artist anywhere outside Pakistan. Displaying 59 of Khalid's paintings, the exhibition provides the unique (and so far the only) opportunity in the past 16 years to view such an extensive body of work of this much celebrated artist. To Artwallaa,  it seems like a (mini) retrospective of the artists journey over the past 16 years.

4. The Curator 

The curator of the exhibition, Sharmini Perrera (whose contribution has not been talked about as much !) has done an excellent job in the choice of artists and works. The works jell exceptionally well with the museum and its surroundings. From the perspective of diversity of styles of works  - from paintings to installations to videos to prints to textiles to multi-media - this exhibition has it all.

See a Photo Essay' of the exhibition here

Pakistan visual arts continue to go from strength to strength and Artwallaa's conviction remains high that Pakistan visual (and other) arts is on an irreversible upward trend.

Enjoy and feel proud

Yours feeling-proud

Artwallaa



PS: To know more on why Artwallaa believes that the Pakistan visual art scene is in an irreversible upward pattern, read the following articles:

Pakistan visual arts never had a better year than 2013 - Jan 25, 2014
Bloomberg article on Pakistan art - stereotyped, shallow but ..... - Aug 29, 2013
A Proud Milestone for Pakistan & Asian Art, - April 21, 2013

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The artists (minus Bani Abidi) All photos credit to FB/artists/Tahir Mahmood.

Aga Khan Museum Opening - Sneak Previews

The $300mn Agha Khan Museum was officially opened by the Canadian Prime Minister and Prince Karim Aga Khan on Friday, September 12. The inaugural exhibition - Garden of Ideas: Contemporary Art from Pakistan - will be opened to the public on September 18th. A number of 'previews' have already started and Artwallaa has trawled through the virtual and physical space to do a 'sneak preview' of the show.

 

There are six participating artists in the exhibition -  Imran Qureshi, Aisha Khalid, David Alesworth, Nurjahan Akhlaque, Atif Khan and Bani Abidi. The exhibition has brought together a very broad and diverse range of artistic styles including miniatures, prints, videos, installation and multi-media.

 

The exhibition also brings together a very extensive body of works of Aisha Khalid. Displaying 59 of Khalid's paintings, the exhibition provides the unique (and so far the only) opportunity in the past 20 years to view such an extensive body of work of this much celebrated artist. To Artwallaa,  it seems like a (mini) retrospective of the artists journey over the past 16 years.

 

What is however taking Artwallaa's attention the most is Khalid's large new work; a 'carpet' with Mughal Garden sensibilities, which uses her trademark needle work. 'Your way begins on the other side', looks beautiful both from the front as well as from the back (reverse); much like her earlier works from the same medium - 'Jacket' 2010 and 'Kashmiri Shawl' 2011.