LAHORE: The curator of the third edition of the Lahore Biennale (LB03), John Tain, says there are urgent reasons for the biennale’s focus on ecology and sustainable futures as the ecological challenges have become an everyday occurrence.

“These challenges are huge, especially the mega cities such as Lahore which face migration from agriculture regions and population growth. Lahore is a city which has doubled in size in the last decades and looks to double in size again if things don’t change as a result such cities face environmental degradation, poor air quality, lack of water, loss of open spaces and noise pollution,” he said on Monday during a conversation with him as the curator of the next edition of the biennale at Alhamra Art Centre, Mall Road.

Tain, who is also the head of research at the Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong, said environmental conditions exacerbated other problems as well including lack of educational and employment opportunities, compromised housing and lack of basic amenities and all of them have been compounded by the pandemic.

He referred to the recent floods in Pakistan by pointing out many ecological and social problems caused by natural catastrophes and climate change. In tackling these problems, he told the audience in a packed hall of Alhamra that the local artists as well as international artists were being invited to address these issues.

“The Biennale also underscores that Lahore is not alone in confronting challenges caused by climate change.”

Talking about the upcoming edition of the biennale, John Tain pointed out that one of the key words was sustainability which applied to the biennale in terms of thinking and the kind of work to be promoted.

“I think it’s interesting that Lahore Biennale works with what is already there. It’s more about exploring the city and understanding it and taking the art to the people of Lahore, which was evident from various sites it took up since its start.”

Tain said that “the biennale is about different parts of the old city and the city becomes an actor in itself”. He said when he saw the walled city of Lahore, one of the things that struck him was the design of the walled city developed over the centuries responding to the natural climate of Lahore. “For instance, the way the walled city is very dense and closed served some purpose. In winter, it was easier to keep it warm as the buildings are standing close together. In summer, the buildings provide shade and keep the residents from being exposed to the sun. The sleeping places were open. All this suggests the local and indigenous knowledge.”

He stressed using the local knowledge and practices to face the challenges of today and future.

Tain gave the example of Shalamar Gardens, pointing out extraordinary engineering along with aesthetic beauty as the water was being used at the time when there was no electricity. He said when the garden was being constructed, there was acute drought in South Asia while the 17th century, during the era of Shah Jahan, witnessed the weakest monsoon on record, which also translated into the design of the gardens.

“This biennale is seeking to develop not just the present and the future but also the consciousness of the past alive like how we can work with it as artists.” The artists are themselves being invited to be a part of the conversation, Tain added.

He showed the world risk index of 2022, which had Pakistan at number 10 in terms of facing dangers of natural catastrophes. “We need to generate conversations about it working with local partners but also with the partners around the world for the long-term engagement,” he emphasised.

Regarding the start of the Lahore Biennale Foundation, its Executive Director Qudsia Rahim said that about 10 years ago they thought of bringing art into the public domain and see how art could be a medium to bring people together.

“The core of the foundation is inclusivity, collaboration, contemporary concerns and collective learning to achieve plurality. That’s how we started the foundation and named it Lahore Biennale Foundation. Initially, we started doing work in the public domain but the central role has been played by the government as it trusted the LBF.”

Ms Rahim said the third edition of the biennale was about situating ourselves. “The first biennale was to exist, the second biennale was to understand the trends and the third biennale is to position and situate ourselves.”

During the second biennale, she said, there was a footfall of 5m people and it had 83 artists from across the world.

“Right after the first biennale in 2018, we realised that smog and ecological effects of the climate change had started in our city. When we researched, we found that we have lost 75pc of our tree cover and we need to plan about 8m indigenous trees to recover the loss,” she said, giving reasons for the stress of the biennale on ecology and sustainable future.

Kamran Lashari, the director general of the Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA), said five six years back, he had a conversation with the then chief minister and current prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, asking “what makes a city look beautiful? Is it just roads, buildings and networks or something amiss?” I told him that we did not have public places which could bring people together like it happened in the West.

He said in Pakistan there is ‘band management’ (shutting down everything) instead of finding solutions. “There were problems with Basant (kite flying), they shut it down. Same happened with the Horse and Cattle Show, the New Year Eve and Gowalmandi Food Street.” He said such steps were taken sometimes in the name of security, sometimes in the name of religion.

Mr Lashari said: “just a few years back, our public installations in Pakistan were missiles and tanks at our roundabouts but thankfully that culture has changed a bit. Rallies and religious congregations happen regularly here but when it comes to holding some cultural event or concert, strange kinds of objections start appearing as well as excuses like security issues.” Public spaces are meant to be happy spaces, he emphasised.

Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2023