ON THE 14TH DAY
14th August, 14 million displaced migrants and now 14 days of Covid-19 quarantine. This year, there is a melancholic irony with the number 14 as we commemorate Pakistan’s Yaum-e-Aazadi (Independence Day) on August 14 amidst an unprecedented global pandemic that has permanently altered the fabric of our reality and imagination. 14 years ago, in 2006, the Pakistani nation dealt with what it thought would become a pandemic with a minor outbreak of H5N1, or the Bird Flu, which killed nearly 80 people throughout the world that year. Today the number of confirmed Covid-19 deaths in Pakistan alone has been over 6,100 as we continue to fight to flatten the curve. Through these 14 artworks, the 14 artists in this exhibition reflect on our current predicament and ask what it means to be free, healthy, rooted and united as a nation in a time when distance is encouraged, isolation is mandatory and life is measured in 14 day increments.
WORKS
Silver Lining Flag Series 2020
Silkscreen on BFK Rives
Edition 2
23 x 30.5 inches
Image and photography courtesy of the artist
Pakistani Flag in a Glass Bell Jar, 2020
Handcut Pakistani 10 Rupee Banknote and miniature glass jar
1.25 x 0.75 dia inches
Image and photography courtesy of the artist
Golden Ratio, 2020
Mixed media
28 x 38 inches
Image courtesy of the artist
Photography by Shoaib Yousaf
Aas, Black Marble series, 2020
Photo-transfer on stoneware clay
5 x 5 inches
Image and photography courtesy of the artist
Umeed-e-Bahaar Rakh II, 2012
Gouache, silver leaf and embossing on wasli
42 x 36 inches
Image courtesy of the artist
Photography by Jamal Ashiqain
Chand Roach, 2020
Assemblage, brass and polymer vinyl
5.3 x 3.3 inches
Image and photography courtesy of the artist
Between the Lines 6, 2013-2019
Metal with silver plating
14 x 8 x 2 inches
Image and photography courtesy of the artist
Wandering Thoughts, 2020
Screen print and graphite on paper
9 x 6.5 inches
Image courtesy of the artist
Photography by Akbar Alana
Yeh Daagh Daagh Ujala, Blackened Silence series, 1995
Charcoal and acrylic on paper
21.5 x 29.5 inches
Image courtesy of the artist
Photography by Naveed Sadiq
Immigration, 2020
Gouache on Wasli
5.5 x 7.5 inches
Image courtesy of the artist
Photography by Mukarram Shafique
Untitled, Harappa Ruins series, 2018
Watercolour pigments on paper
22 x 30 inches
Image and photography courtesy of the artist
Shafaq series, 2020
Fabric, thread, gold leaf and acrylic on handmade paper
23 x 16 inches
Image courtesy of the artist
Photography by Jamal Ashiqain
Calm My Storm, 2017
Photo emulsion print, ink, pigment and gouache on wasli
13 x 19 inches
Image and photography courtesy of the artist
Fasla (Distance) Diptych, 2014
Silk and zardozi thread on fabric
25 x 21 inches each
Image courtesy of the artist
Photography by Mahmood Ali Ahmed
Fourteen (Video Screenshot), 2020
Single channel HD video
Duration: 7 min
Edition of 4
Image courtesy of the artist
Photography by Faisal Anwar