For Alumni Alumni Events

Alumna-Directed Artist Colony Hosts Mural The Commune Artist Colony in Karachi, Pakistan, for which Raania A.K. Durrani ’03 serves as director, is currently displaying Pulse, a mural based on Chaucer’s “The Wife of Bath Tale” by Sarah Bakhtiyar. Location: Commune Artist Colony (Miskeen Gali in Karachi, Pakistan)

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May 28, 2006 A revival of radio

By MADEEHA SYED
Set in a warehouse in the Commune Artist Colony, K’la (Art in Hindi) performed its first ever play, Tihai, to an interesting mix of audience: those well known and working within the media industry as well as students of the Indus Valley School among others. The play, written by Omar Kasmani, was co-directed by himself as well as Amean J. The cast and crew included Natasha Mukarram, Ali Hayat Rizvi, Rubab Paracha, Arsalan-ul-Haq, Amna Iqbal, Amean J, Imran Khan, Yousuf Bashir, Mansoor Wahab, Leena Naqvi, Marvi Mazhar and Rabia Ashfaque.

There were three showings of the play, one of which was scheduled at the last moment, and all three of them started relatively on time. The set was simple, with transitions between different acts done by alternate lighting. The event started with Omar Kasmani giving a brief introduction of the group and the play. K’la was formed as a result of a group of individuals meeting every weekend to share literature and art, and seeks a revival of drama on radio. This was clearly apparent as the play concentrated more on the script, its rendition and expression within the voice rather than on the visual aspect, body language or facial expression. Although it must be mentioned that the actors did not entirely fail in that department, there definitely seemed to be more concentration on how the play ‘sounded’ rather than how it ‘looked’.

The play centred around three stories of different genres: Sartaj Nahin Maharaj: Breakfast with a Family; Platform No 3: The Final Dialogue and Meri Pyari Su: A Monologue Letter from a Friend. Well-written, the transitions between the different stories within the play had been cleverly done.

Sartaj Nahin Maharaj centred around a typical early morning breakfast table with a family comprising both parents and a son, with a little bit of satire thrown in. Natasha Mukarram played the typical mother, fussing over her son, her husband, the breakfast, the neighbours, the chickens — yes, apparently the family had half-a-dozen chickens running around the house. She displayed all the attributes of an irritated housewife with great ease. Ali Hayat Rizvi displayed a maturity in his acting that easily made him stand out from among the rest of the cast. Playing the role of the father, the timing of his dialogues matched his facial expressions to perfection. Arsalan-ul-Haq in the role of the 11-year-old son was entertaining to say the least. However, his acting lacked the subtlety apparent in that of the other actors.

With the family tuning in to listen to a radio drama, the second story, Platform No 3 begins with Omar Akhtar performing an original piece, Nazar, on his acoustic guitar. A story of two estranged individuals, Platform comprised confessions of a college infatuation by Sarah, played by Amna Iqbal to an arrogant Asad — intent on leaving — played by Amean J. Throughout their conversation, Sarah seems reluctant to let go of what happened, or rather what did not happen, between Asad and herself with Asad focused on moving ahead with his life, preferring to leave the past behind. Natasha Mokarram delivered well in terms of clarity of speech and expression, but her timing was a bit off. Holding an open folder with papers stacked in it, one wondered whether Amean was carrying his script around or whether that was just a prop meant to compliment the role of Asad as the lawyer; a role that seemed to come naturally to him.

Finding ourselves back with the family around the breakfast table, the third story, Meri Pyari Su, is introduced as a letter mistakenly delivered to the wrong house and is read by Imran Khan, dressed in a full black veil, playing the role of Su’s childhood friend. The letter is about the adventures of two friends, their many loves and their many marriages. Read in a manner similar to that in old, subcontinental movies and punctuated by giggles that invited laughter from the audience, Imran Khan delivered the punch lines in the letter to perfection. The audience loved him; and after the satirical humour in the first and the seriousness in the second act, Meri Pyari Su proved to be the perfect ending to a pleasant evening.

Although in the first showing, the sound system fell short of delivering clarity of speech, it was a pleasure to see that this problem had been rectified in the second and third showing. For a first performance that was sold out within two days of its announcement, K’la did well, and appear to be promising as a group. Omar Kasmani, on naming the group K’la says: “We do not want to restrict ourselves when it comes to theatre. We have a lot of other skills. I have a background in classical dance, Amean is a photographer, there are other people who have theatre background, someone can sing and so on. Our objective was to keep such a generic name so we could fit in all kinds of performances. K’la is a result of that thought.”

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Important Notice: Jang Group of Newspapers web site can be accessed only by using http://www.jang.com.pk and http://www.jang-group.com Preparations for WSF in full swing 300 students volunteer services for the mega event By our correspondent KARACHI: Around 300 students belonging to different universities, NGOs and other civil society organizations have chosen to volunteer for the World Social Forum. In a meeting of volunteers attended by the students at the World Social Forum Secretariat on Sunday, they were briefed about the charter, themes, events and the logistic requirements of the WSF. According to a press release, Coordinator WSF Tazeen Javed highlighted the purpose of WSF which is to provide a platform for free exchange of opinions and concerns on issues ranging from globalisation and its impact on the environment and ecology, militarism, urban growth and disparities. She also informed about the International WSF Council’s reasons for conducting the event in Karachi this year for which approximately 30,000 to 40,000 participants are expected to participate and attend the WSF. The participants include foreign delegates, NGO professionals, academicians and civil society organizations. Coordinator Volunteers Junaid Hassan and member of Logistics Team, Mian Khalid, said that more than a hundred activities a day are planned simultaneously for the five-day event that will provide an excellent opportunity for the volunteers to work for an international event and enhance their exposure and interaction with a variety of people. A positive response to WSF’s call for volunteers was answered by the students of NUST-Karachi, IBA, various departments of Karachi University including Mass Communication, International Relations, English, Sociology, Pakistan Studies and Area Study Centre for Europe, National University of Modern Languages, NED, CBM, the National Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA), AIESEC, Sir Syed University, and Al-Badr Islamic Society. Meanwhile, the cultural issues in Pakistan and various aspects of our dynamic cultural values were discussed during an interactive session with the artists, musicians, and different cultural groups that were organized by the Cultural Committee of World Social Forum at the Commune Artists Colony. The session of the expressive event was moderated by a famous theatre artiste Khalid Ahmed and Anushae Alam (Culture WSF). The participants felt that an event like WSF has provided Karachiites with a great platform for voicing their views at a global level and that every individual should come forward to avail this opportunity. While talking to The News, Mehar Afroze, a teacher at the Indus Valley School of Arts, said that WSF has given the people of our society a chance to voice our grievances. "One feels horrible and helpless to listen and view human sufferings on the media but through WSF we are being given a chance to interact with different people and exchange our cultures," she said. Shirin Niazi, President Medical Equipment Aid said that the issues and views of a common man can be highlighted through this forum which is a great deal. However Qamar Bharoocha, a Photographer and Yoga Instructor, felt that events like these should not be restricted to mere interaction only. She felt that the Pakistani society is very much segmented where no one is willing to actually fight for a cause and shoulder the responsibility. "Apathy is the root cause behind being unmotivated that leads to the lack of awareness towards global issues that eventually leads to scapegoat," added Nilofar Farukh, an artist and critic who preferred calling herself a ‘concerned citizen’ first. She said that one needs to channelize his energies to work towards the individual empowerment and be well connected to global issues in order to contribute towards the development of his society. The other prominent personalities like Karamat Ali, Naeem Bokhari, Shahnaz Siddiq, Sheema Kirmani, Menezeh Ali, Irfan Mufti Ilva Taseer from Sweden, Nafeesa Shah and Rania Khan and Yousaf from the Commune also participated. Moreover calligraphic and block printed dupattas were also launched that are exclusively made for WSF 2006. A documentary on Karo-kari in Sindh was also shown.

September 23, 2006

Fresh ideas and approaches

By Amra Ali

Driving down Miskeen Gali, off Old Queen’s road in Karachi, one encounters an old run down neighbourhood, with the elderly sitting on charpoys, overlooking small children playing on the street. A few glares suggest that this intrusion through an almost private street has not gone unnoticed. They seem to know why I am passing by and eagerly direct me to the old ware houses turned artists’ colony further ahead. Called the Commune, a group of equally old warehouses transformed into a sapcious gallery space, offices, meeting room and artists’ studios, is the brainchild of two creative people, ceramist Raania Azam Durrani and fashion designer Yousuf Bashir Qureshi. This space aspires to be a new breathing space for the visual and performing arts, in which the emphasis shifts from the finished work to incorporate a larger framework of creativity focusing on short and long workshops, talks, artists’ residencies, and a meeting place for creative people. Its multidisciplinary approach is what may separate the Commune from the commercial galleries in town, if it is able to establish its credibility as a center for nurturing the arts.

While the task of realigning established mindsets and patterns of habit will be a challenging one, I sense an energy that could contribute very positively toward a more open yet professional approach to art. The gallery itself will be suitable to larger works that are able to be viewed with proper lighting and adequate space around them. One of the gallery artists giving her time to help with the Commune, Sarah Bakhtiyar, showed her large scale works at the gallery’s opening show last year, and is presently conducting a workshop in mural painting. The façade of each of the warehouses located in the compound is ideal for murals, and in one of the projects Sarah has worked with the local children of Miskeen gali to involve these kids in creating the art on the walls. Apart from engaging the area community in art projects, the artists working here try to cultivate a sense of community and sharing by distributing clothes and other essentials to the surrounding area residents. Several other programmes such as short evening courses in fashion design and ceramics are also being offered to accommodate those working during the day.

On the day I visited, a show of paintings by Fareen Butt was being mounted. Butt, a visiting artist of Pakistani origin from New York displays small oils on canvas (about 8” x 8”), in sets of three, five, six or eight. The pairing of paintings into groups provides a rhythm to the overall concern with colour, space and form. Pointilist in treatment, each work, though appearing to be similar to the other, provides an interesting shift that sets the pace of the viewer’s engagement with the work. The show titled the Akasa Series reflects Butt’s approach has been informed by Zen philosophy; hence the site of the exhibition appears to be an experience that would lead the viewer to ponder, wonder and simply meditate in front of the paintings. While Minimalism seems to be an integral concern, there is more to the works that reaches beyond the academic and into the realm of philosophy. In one sense, this is difficult work, for the approach is so universal that the artist’s approach defies any limitations of geographical or political boundaries. The freedom it elicits seeks to search for a universal harmony, through shedding away the excess. Less becomes more and speaks of clarity and vision. The dialogue between light and movement establishes the inner context of the paintings. This body of work is particularly refreshing for the local audience; for it seems that we are all too used to artists regurgitating stylistic patterns that mock the viewer’s appreciation of their ‘art’.