NEW YORK, NY.- Often portrayed in the west as a country continuing to struggle with political and social instability, Pakistan has a vibrant yet little-known contemporary art scene that has flourished over the last two decades.
The Asia Society exhibition Hanging Fire: Contemporary Art from Pakistan explores this seeming contradiction. The first major U.S. museum survey exhibition devoted to contemporary art from Pakistan, Hanging Fire examines the complex combination of influences informing contemporary artists in the country’s urban centers of Karachi and Lahore.
Born as a nation in 1947 through partition of the Indian subcontinent, during which time millions were killed and displaced, Pakistan has a rich and syncretic cultural history. It is the site of the Indus Valley civilization, one of the world’s oldest, as well as of important Buddhist centers in the second century and the flourishing Mughal Empire of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The country has both strong roots in South Asian cultural traditions as well as ties to the Islamic world and the Middle East, with which it is in many ways socially, politically and economically aligned, stemming in part from the fact that it is the world’s second largest Muslim majority country.
To spotlight the current energy, vitality and range of expression in Pakistan’s contemporary art scene, Asia Society Museum is presenting 55 works by 15 artists, comprising installation art, video, photography, painting and sculpture. A number of the works have never been exhibited, including a large-scale site-specific painting by Imran Qureshi.
Hanging Fire is curated by Salima Hashmi, one of the most influential and well-respected writers and curators in Pakistan. She taught at the National College of Arts in Lahore for thirty years is currently Dean of the School of Visual Arts at the Beaconhouse National University in that city. She is the daughter of one of Pakistan’s most renowned poets, Faiz Ahmed Faiz.
Hanging Fire is accompanied by a comprehensive, full-color, 161-page research book, distributed by Yale University Press, addressing Pakistan’s political, social, cultural and art history. The volume is edited by Salima Hashmi and includes essays by specialists in Pakistan, the United States and the United Kingdom: artist Naazish Ata-Ullah and artist/critic Quddus Mirza, professors Iftikhar Dadi (Cornell University), Ayesha Jalal (Tufts University), and Carla Petievich (Montclair State University), and celebrated author Mohsin Hamid (The Reluctant Fundamentalist, 2007, shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize).
The exhibition begins with one of the last major works by the late artist Zahoor ul Akhlaq, considered the founder of modernism in Pakistan, who was tragically murdered in 1999 and whose work continues to influence younger artists. The recently established and distinctly Pakistani genre of contemporary miniature painting is examined through works by artists such as the celebrated Imran Qureshi, who skillfully manipulates the technical discipline and meaning of the hallowed illuminated Mughal manuscript tradition. The exhibition also considers art education and practice and its effect on cultural life, focusing on the role of the federally funded National College of Arts in Lahore as a magnet for artists from all over Pakistan (most of the artists in the exhibition have either attended or taught at NCA).
The exhibition’s title, Hanging Fire, refers to an idiom that means "to delay decision." In the context of the exhibition, the title evokes the idea of delaying judgment, particularly based on assumptions or preconceived notions about contemporary society and artistic expression in Pakistan. It also alludes to the contemporary economic, political, and social tensions––both local and global––from which these artists find their creative inspiration.
"For over 40 years, Asia Society has been a leader in providing balanced and nuanced perspectives on Pakistan and U.S.-Pakistan relations," said Asia Society President Vishakha N. Desai. "Despite Pakistan’s rich artistic and cultural history, most notably as a center of the Mughal courts, the country is all too often portrayed in the West in negative terms. Through this exhibition and our related programming, we aim to address the critical need for deeper understanding of Pakistan’s diversity and complexity and to present a fuller picture of contemporary Pakistani society."
"The idea for Hanging Fire came from a recognition that over the past decade, a new generation of artists in Pakistan have created compelling works that have largely gone unnoticed outside their country," notes Asia Society Museum Director Melissa Chiu. "The exhibition includes artists for whom the highly charged socio-political context in which they live and work is critical to understanding their art."
The exhibition’s title, Hanging Fire, refers to an idiom that means "to delay decision." In the context of the exhibition, the title evokes the idea of delaying judgment, particularly based on assumptions or preconceived notions about contemporary society and artistic expression in Pakistan. It also alludes to the contemporary economic, political, and social tensions––both local and global––from which these artists find their creative inspiration.
"For over 40 years, Asia Society has been a leader in providing balanced and nuanced perspectives on Pakistan and U.S.-Pakistan relations," said Asia Society President Vishakha N. Desai. "Despite Pakistan’s rich artistic and cultural history, most notably as a center of the Mughal courts, the country is all too often portrayed in the West in negative terms. Through this exhibition and our related programming, we aim to address the critical need for deeper understanding of Pakistan’s diversity and complexity and to present a fuller picture of contemporary Pakistani society."
"The idea for Hanging Fire came from a recognition that over the past decade, a new generation of artists in Pakistan have created compelling works that have largely gone unnoticed outside their country," notes Asia Society Museum Director Melissa Chiu. "The exhibition includes artists for whom the highly charged socio-political context in which they live and work is critical to understanding their art."
