Major Miniature

Imagine eating curry every single day for twenty some years. It may be your favorite dish but when will you have had enough? And when you do; will you blame the spices, the herbs, the grains, the meat or the cook? If making something new is not an option, the least the cook can do is change the presentation from time to time.

Carrying this metaphor forward to the show ‘Major Miniature’ at Unicorn Gallery, a lot of the works were like those stable constants; where most pieces were from old series of works. It was quite unfortunate that we ended up having the same dinner again; we saw the same works in the same way as we have been witnessing for the past twenty years or so. There is nothing wrong with sharing old works, the question remains why are we seeing them again and in the same way? Or without any context to give them meaning.

The advent of the 90’s brought with it a surge of artists. Artists like Imran Qureshi, Aisha Khalid and later Muhammad Zeeshan and Ayesha Jatoi. These artists have their routes in miniature, but what is truly commendable is what they did with their practices. They worked with persistence – researching, experimenting and developing their works into new dimensions and always swimming with the changing tide.

Today in 2014, we haven’t seemed to move much from that point. We do need to reflect if we are still in that time frame, where having shows like ‘Art from Pakistan’ or the ‘miniature show of xxx class’ is acceptable. Especially for those who make their careers out of this profession: individuals who have been researching, investigating and investing in their work, where every piece says something and has a life and ideology of its own, it becomes crucial to satisfy logic as to how their works spanning various concepts should be grouped together?

Looking back at the show, the only thread that connected this presentation was that all artists who showed their work practice miniature; apart from this it was very difficult to find common ground.

Khadim Ali has been using the same imagery as far as one can remember.  Using the technique of ‘neem rang’ or half-colour he has shown the same work as the ‘Rustam series’ narratives which depict the battle between good and evil, and the Persian epic poem, Shahnameh (Book of kings). Khalid Saeed Butt too is inspired by poetry (Urdu) in context and his work is traditional in nature.

Imran Mudassar creates “a dialogue between (his) body and war-related objects,” as he mentions in his statement. This work is a series of photographs of bullet-ridden walls over which he draws headless torsos, giving the impression that the bullet holes are penetrating the body. It is the same work that was part of his solo exhibition at Canvas earlier.

Mudassar Manzoor and Ayesha Durrani’s work have very personal concepts.  The former deals with beliefs, Sufism and the inner world of a being while Durrani draws out feminist topics through her work exploring themes of female bondage and arranged marriages in Pakistani culture.

Commenting on the current situation of society is Amjad Ali Talpur ‘s piece that creates a mosaic of fragmented images that fit each other to form one image in the form of puzzles. In his own words, ‘my work deals with the formal issues of making the possible views of the visuals. I enjoy the process of the work, randomness, playfulness and humor in my practice.’

Saira's witty pieces are sensitive and skillfully made

Asif Ahmed’s work is an exploration of traditional art, political intrigue, power and blending history with the modern. Attiya Shaukat and Saira Wasim too make political comments in their work. Saira’s witty pieces are sensitive and skillfully made. Her statement mentions how she likes to put stage drama (world politics) into the centuries-old format of the miniature painting. She says “It has a cast of national actors (countries); the characters are sometimes heroic at other times petty; the action is always dramatic and often tragic but based on their national interests and audiences (innocent public) entertained or deceived. But still drama moves and repeats like a carousel of a circus”

Imran Channa’s informed work is out of the ‘Badshahnama’ series where he dislodges and manipulates Mughal miniature imagery; Channa says that he moves the miniature forward by digitalizing what is considered a conventional, almost sacred art.

With varied themes and no curatorial framework to the show, it seems to be an illogical theme park of the universal and personal

Does putting up a show only mean picking up great and skilled artists’ work that have been seen countless times in the past and putting everything together like a mixed platter irrespective of the context or sensibility of the work? In a time when the world is engaging in intellectual debate, should we remain ignorant?

With varied themes and no curatorial framework to the show, it seems to be an illogical theme park of the universal and personal; ranging from feminism, religious identities, historical representations, interventions, private narratives, to some non-contextual work.

One of the artists, Irfan Hasan, was quite perplexed and infuriated since he was not informed of the show at all, and his work was displayed from the gallery’s collection. I was also quite intrigued when I was told by a gallery representative that Saira Wasim and Khadim Ali were showing works for the first time in Pakistan, something I could personally vouch against.

Although the show claimed to be about art being produced in Pakistan right now, some of the works shown were quite old, this unrepresentative of the artists’ work today, since many of them have moved in different directions.

No matter how skilled and intellectually informed the work, without a framework it loses impact. The display of art is important. Many artists would cringe to have sold signs and numbers pasted over their frames, or have their paintings hung with strings as was the case in this show.  A presentation of artwork is a prestigious endeavor, it is not just an art sale; the works need to be given respect.

Galleries need to meet these cutting edge international standards if local art is to be promoted the way it deserves.