Migration and identity. If there’s one recurring theme throughout most art produced in Pakistan, it’s this, whether it’s the endless pains of colonisation and the Partition or of the ‘new’ migration — the younger generation of Pakistanis moving abroad and re-configuring their identities again.

It’s a tale of uprooting, migrating, settling and re-identifying who you are and what that means, from one generation to the next. Always in hopes that this would be the last, where you can finally set your roots and feel like you truly belong.

Focused on this notion is an exhibition of larger-than-life works by Shameen Arshad, in a collection titled, ‘Memoirs of a Hybrid’, hosted at the VM Art Gallery in Karachi. Through her works, the artist looks at “the fluidity of identity and the evolving nature of the category Pakistani” according to the exhibit’s description.

Walking into the gallery, you’re confronted by gigantic, larger-than-life installations that serve as a map of sorts, exploring semblances of individuality, all with a very modern outlook. At the outset, these installations, all created on large pieces of velvet fabric, look like maps, but are so much more.

Shameen Arshad explores an ever-evolving identity and the feeling of no place ever being home

According to the gallery’s own statement, Shameen Arshad “explores a confused sense of the self and various ideas of ownership, by giving tangibility to the multi-dimensional yet indeterminate character of that label. Reflecting on tumultuous geo-political history, and the effects of colonialism and cultural imperialism, Arshad’s artwork tends to illustrate a sense of displacement and dislocation, the feeling of residing in no man’s land and being unable to call any place home.”

The Eternal Blues, created out of fabric paint, acrylics and applique on velvet, show applique paper boats, a nod to our childhoods, set against a blue and black backdrop, one which are outlined tents — surely those of newly migrated persons. We are all travellers here, through geography, time and our imaginations.

“From my window I would endlessly see jets fly away into the distance, always curious as to where they’ll end their journey or rest before their final descent,” states the artist about the artwork that represents the exhibition itself, Limbo. An impressive eight feet by two feet installation, the top half depicts applique planes flying around, haphazardly forming dotted lines as if leaving trails through space and time, above silhouettes of the many homes across the world that Arshad identifies with.

The tin foil woven into Perceptual Landscapes glints under the lights and gives the impression of mother-of-pearl sparkling in the moonlight. Set against a black velvet fabric, this hand-embroidered piece gives a bird eye’s view of the Indus River snaking through the landscape. With the riverside areas glinting with the richness of being so close to this water that gives life to all around it. About Perceptual Landscapes, the artist says, “I revisit my childhood, when my knowledge of the Indus was shallow and I had not quite understood its complexities, reflecting the issue of disconnect with my home soil.”

Four Walls and a Closed Door stands out immediately for the rich, deep cobalt-blue backdrop of the applique-on-velvet artwork. The artist channels her inner child as the applique pieces sewn in seem be drawn from memory from when she was very young.

According to Arshad, “For me, ‘home’ cannot be reduced to a single structure, town, or map. It can be several places or none at all, a mere intangible feeling or even an abstract concept. I try to understand the ever-shifting meaning of ghar.” The applique pieces themselves are different versions of traditional brick-and-cement houses that she’s moved through. It’s a piece that demands a closer look to truly understand it.

While the artist describes an unending feeling of “residing in no man’s land and being unable to call any place home”, what I deduced from the artwork was the artist showing exactly what constitutes her identity. It might be in fragments but, when looked at together, you can put together a story of who this person is and what influences her — and where she comes from.

‘Memoirs of a Hybrid’ was exhibited at the VM Art Gallery, Karachi, from September 8-27, 2022

Published in Dawn, EOS, October 9th, 2022