Follow Me (Edition 3), Osama Rehman Khan
As individuals we often interpret and respond to situations and events differently. The same can be said for artists. More often than not, art is a replication, retrospection or simply a reaction to an incident felt personally by the artist. Our daily experiences tend to overlap with similarities. However, the response to any such event will always be unique to the individual — be it an artist or otherwise. The same can be said for the group of artists who displayed their works at the recent exhibition at Karachi’s Koel Gallery.
Titled Spacebar, the exhibition displayed artworks of the fresh graduates of the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture and was curated by Nurayah Sheikh-Nabi. Much like the function of a spacebar on a keyboard is to provide a visual gap between thoughts, words and sentences, this show was premised on the interlude experiences of the budding artists since their graduation, and how this time away from the institution has allowed the fledgling artists to grow thus far.
The show, therefore, becomes a visual montage of the beginning of their careers as professionally independent artists. The artists included Abeer Arshad, Ana Kazmi, Ansha Memon, Aqsa Khan, Asim Ameen, Ayesha Ali, Babr Feroz, Hassaan Aslam, Haya Eshbani, Jaweria Shoaib, Kiran Saleem, Mahnoor Qazi, Muzna Roghay, Osama Rehman Khan, Sadia Safder, Sahl Motiwala, Saleha Qureshi, Samra Mehkri, Schanza Khan, Shahzadi Ayub, Sundus Ihsan, Tooba Shahbaz, Yusra Allawala and Zoya Faruqui.
Graduates from the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture impress art lovers with their wide range of ideas
There is an intriguing mix of mediums and concepts within the exhibition. Set up as exact replicas of vintage arcade games, Qazi presents life-size installation works titled ‘Karachi Kross’ and ‘Dhaba–Run.’ The structures are hand-painted with illustrations, while each screen played a video loop of the 8-Bit Generation games such as Super Mario Bros and Pac-Man. However, Qazi adds her own twist to the game where, for one, she inserts an 8-Bit version of herself into the game instead of the original characters, as well as adds exciting Pakistani elements. Her work hones in on a time before the internet and smartphones were widespread and recalls the arcade culture that has now vanished.