LAHORE: An exhibition of selected works titled, ‘Maps of Memory’ consisting of works spanning over a decade (2013-2023) by Iram Zia Raja opened at the Gurmani Centre for Languages and Literature of the Lahore University of Management Sciences (Lums) on Monday.

The exhibition, curated by Quddus Mirza, an art critic and educationist, is an inquiry into the aesthetics of Islamic geometry, vernacular motifs, historical manuscripts and traditional and modern practices of fiber art.

Dr Iram Zia Raja, a professor of design at the National College of Arts (NCA), has worked extensively on the subject of art education in South Asia, especially Lahore, and has presented her research in various seminars and conferences.

Iram’s current artworks are distinct for the innovative use of geometry, the unusual chromatic compositions with emphasis on details that have been translated across several mediums.

Talking to Dawn, she says her artworks on display spanned over 10 years.

“I look at my works as an accumulation of a lifelong conversation with myself, daily life packed with mundane and interesting bits alike.”

Elaborating on her works, Iram said, “My work is many things. It’s a query, a response, a vessel and an outcome too. It’s experiential. It’s DNA too. It’s a text as well as the context. It’s an image and a counter image. It’s multilayered, multi-lensed and multi-faceted”.

Quddus Mirza, the curator of the exhibition, commenting on Dr Iram Zia Raja’s works, says, “In her artworks, Iram seeks these threads that are tangled in time and yet widely visible in our culture. Her imagery reflects an intelligent and intuitive exploration of traditional practices in the region and the entire Muslim World”.

Mirza further says, “Iram’s imagery is not limited to the craft of making as it recognises the fabric of society that breathes in multiple times and in many traditions at the same moment. She has recognized this aspect and her tapestry panels reflect the change in relationships between old and new, original and derived, local and foreign”.

He adds that the artist’s visuals comprise segments of Kufic script, motifs from sacred manuscripts, elements of Mughal gardens and patterns from historical garments, thus presenting a contemporary view of tradition”.

Dr Iram’s research thesis titled, ‘From Craft to Art and Design: Changing Patterns of Art Education: From the Mayo School of Art to the National College of Arts’ has contributed to seminal research on the topics of post-colonial art and design education in Pakistan. As a practitioner of design and in textiles and metals, she has had a number of solo exhibitions at leading art galleries both inside and outside Pakistan.

Iram’s work deals with the presence of tradition and its possibilities in the contemporary world. She investigates motifs, patterns and symbols from the “decorative” arts of the past and contextualises and reinterprets them with a contemporary sensibility.

The exhibition will remain on display till Dec 31.

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2023