ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN YOULIN MAGAZINE
Written by: Nayha Jehangir Khan Posted on: March 18, 2022 | | 中文
Lahore In Movement by Farida Batool
A multidisciplinary showcase of works by artist Farida Batool is being hosted by the Lahore Biennale Foundation (LBF) in collaboration with the British Council at Dyal Singh Mansion located at the heart of Mall Road, a major artery of the busiest business hubs of Lahore. It is considered to be the original Lahore, holding within its landmark architecture stories of countless communities. They have shaped the present identity and social fabric of the district.
Farida Batool explores the complex visual syntax of the area through her series titled “Dastaan”, which includes multiple video projection installations, time-based & mixed media works and a collaborative painting installation with three locally based artists Agha Mukhtar, Kalid Mehmood and Afzal Khan, who have been based in this historical neighbourhood for generations. With a background in conservation and regeneration of architecture, curator Tanvir Hasan emphasises the importance of safeguarding monumental structures like Dyal Singh Mansion, which represent an authentic connection and key to understanding the formation of a collective memory of the place.
Chiriyaan
The main hall on the ground floor houses the largest video projection installation titled “Ajeeb Dastaan”. A larger-than-life projection surrounds the viewer spread across 3 walls showing fleeting visuals of the city from a birds-eye view. The erosion, peeling paint, cement and staining on the aged walls of the Dyal Singh Mnsion become part of the installation piece. The signs of ageing were melded into the imagery of the city, expanding, and contracting the space around the viewer. There were five digital prints of Farida Batool’s photographs on plastic films that hung quietly with images of people, streets, doorways paired with elements of abstraction. The artist had transformed the interior of the building into a reflection of the world outside, by bringing in the aerial views and intimate street corners through video.
"Ajeeb Dastaan" by Farida Batool
A tale that is told over generations becomes a “dastaan”, the artist exploring the city through a process of witnessing its evolution without interfering or disturbing its rhythm and flow. She has created a series of video collages that observe the design in relation to the history of the city. Her deep understanding of the language and communities of the area fuels her artistic practice. The exhibition invites the public to enter the space as visitors, leaving behind the busy street and entering into an entirely new world that feels otherworldly and cinematic at first, and slowly assimilates into a familiar memory.
There are bright and colourful murals located in the large archway alley right outside the exhibition space, where the local poster artists were invited to paint a beautiful garden view with an iconic Lahore fountain, surrounded by gorgeous flowers marking the arrival of spring. Opposite this is a display of an even larger paragraph of verses written by hand directly on the wall. The viewer automatically connects this style of painting and writing to be an essential distillation of Lahore’s tradition. Qudsia Rahim, Executive Director of Lahore Biennale Foundation has orchestrated the reawakening of public art, curating countless exhibitions and installations around the city in multiple locations that invite the viewer to create their own personalised dialogue and intrigue around art, as an expressive medium of communication.
"Jaan Ki Panah" by Farida Batool
Farida’s video animation titled “Jaan ki Panah”, is a frenzied staircase of text rushing through in various directions, designed to be difficult to read traditionally, leaving the viewer with a sense of confusion and curiosity. The artist is highly aware of the formation of memories and knows how to distort and manipulate visual fragmentations that reflect the nonlinear nature of emotional language. In the “Tareekhi Gawahi” series, she layers the sheet with text and by using a backlight, the layers are illuminated pushing and pulling the viewer into various details across the diptych.
"Tareekhi Gawahi I" by Farida Batool
In the basement of the multi-story building are life-size cut-outs of iconic film heroes and heroines, painted by the poster artists. These unforgettable characters from popular movies of Lahore created a heavy cultural impact on the neighbourhood. “Film nama” is a unique sound collage with voices of Syed Abu Turab, Farida Batool and Syed Afzal Haider narrating personal reflections, while the Manto & Hakeem Ahmed Shujah pieces echo into the dimly lit cut-outs lined with neon led lights. A cinematic escape from the busy streets outside, the basement transformed into a stage for these posters to come alive.
Shehar Alif Laila by Afzal Khan
A guided tour of the exhibition is available from 5:30 to 6:30pm, as part of the Lahore Literature Festival program from the 17th of March 2022 till the 20th of March 2022.Written
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