Collaborative two-person exhibition · 2020

Bood o Nabood

بود و نبود

Existence and Nonexistence

Paintings after Iqbal's poetry of khudi — the self — shown with, and partly made together with, Shah Abdullah Alamee.

Opening: Tuesday 22 December 2020, 2 – 7 pm
Venue: Koel Gallery, Karachi
With: Shah Abdullah Alamee
Works: 10 paintings + 2 collaborations

E-catalogue PDF Read the review in Dawn ↓

Mouj o Gardish: pale strands rising into black beside a calligraphic title — *Mouj o Gardish*, collaborative work with Shah Abdullah Alamee, 2020

In the gallery

Koel Gallery, Karachi · December 2020

Two framed works with calligraphy hung side by side on a dark gallery wall — Installation view

Close view of pale thread-like lines crossing a dark painted surface — Detail on the wall

The artists and guests standing together in the gallery at the opening — At the opening, 22 December 2020

Artist statement

“The threads weave resilience in the self through all we have been; all we are now; and all we will become.”

The artwork is an expression of Iqbal's message of self-discovery and the resurgence of awakening — a sense of constant action and perpetual movement. The strength and weakness of the self is shown through repeated patterns of self-realisation, set against society's insistence on self-suppression and renunciation.

There is an inherent rhythm to nature: strands stretching along the horizon, from right to left, from north to south, symbolise the realisation of self and the divine strands that connect the self and nature. The series tries to capture the rhythm and pulse of Iqbal's poetry through miniature line work and calligraphy.

— Amna Manzoor, 2020