KM and I have known each other for ages. There were days when we were at school and the height of excitement of pre-globalized Lahore was visiting friends. So we would plan our visits and then sit for hours and talk. Random, intelligent and human stuff.

And, then our lives expanded so to speak when we arrived in London as undergraduate students, lost and a little disoriented in a college with thousands of students. I remember that we watched “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” together and few other alternative films. KM was a little shocked at the Kundera’s hedonism. There was one that KM did not find too exciting. Perhaps it was Greenway’s “The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover“. Of course we were growing up and finding our little paths and dealing with our demons and gods. (more…)

Bordering between abstract and socio-political, Shaheen Sultan Dhanji’s photography, painting and writings are at once striking to readership.  Her art transforms the humble into amazing objects of desire.
 
 Sultan’s  large scale of black and white photographs are at once contemporary, mingled with socio-political messages. Themes of war, poverty, women and sanitation, globalisation and various pressing subjects are provocatively captured on film. She has had some of her works exhibited in Ottawa and Toronto Canada. 

Luminous yet subtle abstract and figurative paintings reveal a fusion cultural influences, and experiences endured in  Sultan’s journey in assmililating between life in Africa and North America. 

Her art punctuates and pierces a wave of questions of human dignity, colossal loss of wars, life of a courtesan and major other social themes.  Sultan is senstive to light and colour. Her work can be calssified with using strong oil base, and lots of blues, yellows, red and burnt orange.
 
Apart from visual art, Sultan  is a writer for several newspaper. Her subjects include politics, literature, poetry and eastern philosophy. She does not shy away in dialoguing concerns facing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention the genocides in Congo.  A constant worker, Sultan is convinced that tenacity and perserverance are the deepest, firmest pillars to create the enigma out there.

JR is grateful that Dhanji has shared the images of her two recent paintings that are shown above. The write up has been adapted from a review of her works.

The piece on the left has been described as “one of the oldest, rarest and most beautiful works of art from the ancient world.”

Described by Sotheby’s as diminutive in size, but monumental in conception, The Guennol Lioness was created around 5,000 years ago — around the same time as the first known use of the wheel — in the region of ancient Mesopotamia.

“This storied figure, in its brilliant combination of an animal form and human pose, has captured the imagination of academics and the public since ..the late 1940s,” …

The figure depicts a standing lioness looking over her left shoulder, her paws clenched in front of her muscular chest.

Experts have speculated that the figure may have played a role in some ancient belief system or mythology in Mesopotamia, which today lies in parts of modern day Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran.

Image and text from here

On a long tiring flight, I was not too amused by another predictable rant on “Intimidation in Tehran” in the Time magazine. However, while browsing through, I could not help notice a stunning photograph taken by Olivia Arthur. (more…)

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140 dead and 538 injured - this little byline cuts through hearts and our future!

Yesterday was the day of images - moving pictures of excitement, energy, applause and then the saddest of recent tragedies. (more…)

I was introduced to this photo taken by Khanpride by Jami Sirhandi.

His plea was to stand up to the ‘development mafia’ and stop this vandalism.

Across Pakistan, rampant and unplanned urbanisation is taking its toll on green spaces and the trees. As it is our forest cover has denuded to alarming proportions; and now we are creating urban wastelands of dubious impact in the name of development.

The image on the right, again shows how trees have vanished and there has been no re-plantation despite the usual lip-service that is paid on these occasions.

Saving trees is not just a romantic notion: it is vital to our future and involves the right of our next generations to survive on this planet.

Stand up and be counted, as they say…

During my recent visit to Lahore, I met the Lahore artist, Iqbal Hussain. We had a nice, engaging chat, saw his recent works some displayed and some eating dust in the splendid Cooco’s Cafe located next to the Badshahi Mosque.

Iqbal’s matter-of-fact portraits have introduced the multiple nuances and shades of Lahore’s red-light area to the world. The women subjects are mostly from the area and he paints them with stark candour and brings out the depths of expressions and emotions in his lines and brush-strokes.

Perhaps the greatest contribution of Iqbal is the establishment of Cooco’s Cafe that has turned into a cultural landmark and has also catalysed urban renewal in the neighbourhood.

Among his recent paintings is the portrait of actor-writer Feryal Ali Gauhar with her dog. This is an uncommon subject but the result is fabulous. I was quick to take a photo (see the image below).

Iqbal is a down-to-earth artist with no pretensions. The directness and simplicity of his work is a reflection of his personality. He braved the mainstream opposition to his paintings with a stoic attitude and has invested his time and soul into the growth of cooco’s as a fine place that offers much more than the old city delicacies and cuisine. I can’t wait to meet him again and see his new work.

 Raunaqe bazaar-o- mehfil kam nahin hai aj bhee

Saneha is sheher mein koi magar honay ko hai

Read here >>

Life must be a living hell for the millions made homeless by the recent cyclone and floods in Pakistan. It reminds one of the horrible tragedy of October earthquake in 2006 that thousands are still trying to cope with. This is the time to pray and do all that we can for the victims of this natural disaster. Article here >>

This weekend was remarkable: visions and confusions found their way on a plain canvas and before long I was in a strange dialogue with the canvas - here is the result of this dialogue: Full entry here >>

I am grateful to Ahmer for sending me the link to “The Art of Integration Exhibition: Islam in Britain’s Green and Pleasant Lands“.

The photograph on the left titled A Beautiful Veil is a creation of Zarah Hussain, Geometrist who has a lovely explanation for this: ‘I have always been fascinated by Islamic patterns, the interlocking geometry with its flowing shapes, stars and rosettes. They captured my eyes, heart and mind. The contemplation of these ’spider webs of God’ mold my soul and briefly enable me to escape the preoccupations of everyday life.’

Ghufran has an interesting post on Islamic architecture here.

The nineteenth century photos from Iran, commissioned by the ruling monarch are delightful. A special photographer was assigned the task to capture shots of the harem and the results were unique. Apparently, these photos have also been used by contemporary artists as their inspiration as well as material.

Full entry here >>

I have been busy with discovering the pleasure of painting - playing with colours and mixing visions and inspirations with linseed oil. The results are alas not that great. However, it is the process of being focused on and immersed in the canvas, that I find most elevating. Full entry here >>

How poor are they who have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees.
-William Shakespeare

I grew up in the post-East Pakistan era, and my only exposure to Bangladesh was initially through textbooks that were at best sheepish about the events surrounding its liberation. History was suspended by the school narratives. As a young adult, I was exposed to the injustices once meted out to Pakistan’s largest wing by an outspoken history teacher. Later, when I blurted out those acquired facts in characteristic drawing room discussions, I sensed an unease; silence was advised by a discerning elder.

Such silence, unfortunately, haunted the post-1971 social and cultural milieu of Pakistan. Later in life when I met real Bangladeshis, as opposed to the fictional characters that existed in my mental landscape, I felt a strange affinity despite the fact that we came from contested histories and realities. At college in London I remember long discussions with Bangladeshi friends where we disagreed yet agreed that we had a common future.

Therefore, the recent visit to Dhaka, the very first non fleeting sojourn, was an overpowering experience. Dhaka airport is just another airport. Like home, there are long queues broken by the protocol brigades and immigration officers struggling with the advent of technology. In Dhaka, the warmth of the people overwhelms you.

While there I could not help but think of Faiz’s only poem written in 1974, Ham ke thehre ajnabi, about how close relations become estranged. (more…)

Delhi’s Red Fort was once a symbol of Mughal power and the myriad India was ruled for centuries from this fort. Full entry here >>

The local Christian community praying at an Easter service in Lahore, Pakistan.