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Review
Resemble Reassemble: A revolutionary dispositif
‘Resemble Reassemble,’ a landmark group show at Devi Art Foundation presents the works of 45 contemporary artists from Pakistan. Art writer Natasha Ginwala analyses how Rana examines the ‘notional entity called ‘Contemporary Pakistani Art’ through this show.
The recent exhibition ‘Resemble Reassemble,’ curated by Rashid Rana has been termed here as a dispositif, in order to facilitate a deconstructive reading rather than categorising it simply as a survey exhibition of Contemporary Art from Pakistan. The significance of this assemblage of works extends far beyond their corporeal presence at a private museum close to the Indian capital.
Foucault elaborates upon the dispositif thus, “A thoroughly heterogeneous ensemble consisting of discourses, institutions, architectural forms, regulatory decisions, laws... in short, the said as much as the unsaid. Such are the elements of the apparatus. The apparatus itself is the system of relations that can be established between these elements."(1)
‘Resemble Reassemble,’ functions as a constellation of tangible and intangible utterances which assimilate an array of themes, mediums and discourses capturing a fractured zeitgeist. In essence, this show presents an alternative visualism by privileging an experiential ontology. The curator has purposefully bypassed conventional curatorial categorisation and instead focused on combining individual works by deploying what he terms ‘visual thinking’; thereby, weaving a plenitude of tactile narratives. By working upon cultivating an interstitial aesthetic, Rana presents oscillating expressions which subvert notions of spatial enclosure, corporeal essentialism and redundant theoretical binarism. The interstice therefore, appears as a potential site of resistance, an immanent source of critique that is (dis)located in the fissures and cracks of conventional architectonics, emerging from within panoptic social architecture.(2) The works articulate discursive ambivalence that threatens suppressive political and cultural regimes. A linear narrative of the nation is also contested through this strategic approach to exhibition design. In his catalogue essay, Rana writes, “As I examined this notional entity called Contemporary Pakistani Art, I came to realise that this was a creature with no single connecting spine or identifiable shape. If anything, I was determined to avoid forcing a preconceived or clichéd form on the work in front of me.”
‘Resemble Reassemble,’ showcases works from the Lekha and Anupam Poddar Collection. The extensive list of artists reads, Abdullah M.I. Syed, Adeela Suleman, Ahsan Jamal, Aisha Khalid, Ali Raza, Amber Hammad, Anwar Saeed, Asma Mundrawala, Attiya Shaukat, Ayaz Jokhio, Ayesha Zulfiqar, Bani Abidi, Ehasan ul Haq, Fahd Burki, Farida Batool, Ferwa Ibrahim, Hamra Abbas, Huma Mulji, Huria Khan, Imran Ahmad Khan, Imran Mudassar, Imran Qureshi, Iqra Tanveer, Ismet Khawaja, Jamil Baloch, Mariam Ibraaz, Masooma Syed, Mahbub Shah, Mehr Javed, Mehreen Murtaza, Mahreen Asif Zuberi, Mohammad Ali Talpur, Muhammad Zeeshan, Naiza H Khan, Nazia Malik, Noor Ali Chagani, Nusra Laitf Qureshi, Rabbya Nasser, Raju G. C, Risham Syed, Roohi Ahmed, Saira Wasim, Sajjad Ahmed, Shalalae Jamil and Unum Babar.
The exhibited works cover a spectrum of creative praxes which have emerged over the past decade. They appear to be in active conversation with global art trends and speak while being vitally rooted in specific socio-cultural paradigms. As the exhibition title suggests, the art is seen in a state of re-construction and in dialogue with historical formations as well as dispersed knowledge frameworks. Much like Rana’s elaborate photo montages, a bricolage of striking creations come together to form a uniquely fashioned whole.
While several exhibitions inadvertently endorse critical distance and intellectual exposition, they become victims of tunnel vision and somatophobia. In this exhibition rather than a ‘looking at’ there seems to be a looking over, under and within. Further, there is an overwhelming mobilisation of sensorial stimulation. Vision is, thus, fortified by an influx of peripheral experientiality.
Protruding around a corner we see a large brass horn penetrating the gallery wall. In Mehreen Murtaza’s sound installation, ‘Order of the Universe Orchestra II,’ (2008) the source of the voices remains unclear. However, it is marked by a compelling prophetic tonality used to denote truth-making and reiteration of authority. The neutrality of the gallery space is challenged as one inches closer to make sense of a jumbled recording. Even in an age of sophisticated communication technology, loud speakers function as a preferred and accessible public address mechanism. Here, the horn mimics the religious and political significance of a ubiquitously circulating device.
The appearance of a bathroom sink attached to a wall might automatically bring Duchampian wit to mind; however Unum Babar’s work is infused with dialectic complexity as she provocatively converts mundane bathroom objects into a contemplative tableau. In ‘Laminar Turbulence,’ (2007) a screen above the sink ‘mirrors’ a plugged sink gathering water. Through tiny holes in the drain below, we see the artist crouched in the corner of a bathroom; she stares blankly. Babar appears as a subject of surveillance but one who is inaccessible beyond a certain level. While posing a thoughtful challenge to perception, she seems to portray the concerns of an individual ‘drowning’ in a society inundated by clashes.(3)
When people are seen queuing up to answer a telephone installed in a gallery, the scene is bound to stir interest. In ‘Conversations at the Edge,’ (2009) recordings of trysts and retrieved memories visibilise the fault lines of identity in times of increased mobility. Shalalae Jamil poses an auditory vortex to throw open the myriad dilemmas of socio-cultural specificity and transcultural living. The aural encounter is heightened by surrounding works that visually speak of homes lost and found.
The Nineties and Global Shifts
The late Seventies and early Eighties witnessed the revitalisation of miniature painting under pioneering artist-teacher, Zahoor ul-Akhlaq. Several younger artists trained under traditional experts began appropriating the highly-stylised syntax to reflect upon contemporary phenomena by employing postmodern vocabularies. Neo-miniature continued to be popular amongst artists working through the Nineties, however in recent years it has extended to accommodate other mediums and creative processes enthused through a sustained interest in minimalist expressions. ‘Resemble Reassemble,’ presents works by exceptional contemporary miniaturists such as Aisha Khalid, Ahsan Jamal and Imran Qureshi.
Educational institutions such as National College of Arts (NCA), Lahore and more recently Beaconhouse National University (BNU), Lahore and Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture (IVSAA), Karachi have played a significant role in shaping art practices of the current generation. In the Nineties, artists like Rashid Rana, Bani Abidi and Quddus Mirza returned to Pakistan after obtaining training abroad and introduced ‘fringe genres’ into the taught curriculum at their alma mater (NCA). Through the cultivation of a vibrant network of creative exchange, artists began to learn from one another. Such institutional changes were augmented by an increase in private galleries and a committed collector base.
A Personal Repository Made ‘Public’
With this show, the Devi Art Foundation has further facilitated exposure to the Contemporary Arts of South Asia. In an introductory note, Anupam Poddar mentions that a power-point presented by Rashid Rana in 2005 first led him to become au courant with art emerging from Pakistan. ‘Resemble Reassemble,’ marks a significant collaborative journey between artist-curator and collector-institution builder. Poddar is known to collect seemingly ‘unviable’ artworks. His discerning eye compels him to acquire expressions ranging from the unstable to the mammoth and the miniscule. This show includes Ayesha Zulfiqar’s ‘Slice,’ (2009). The cross-section of a road is placed in the gallery core, projecting the unseen layers of interactivity between self and the metropolis. ‘Slice,’ was made as a symbolic gesture denoting the artist’s move from village life to an art school in a bustling city. Beside it, a fragment of shifting waters is installed in a side wall. In ‘Wave II’ (2009), Iqra Tanveer makes a poetic attempt at rendering fixity to a restless tide.
Until public art institutions in India are equipped to incorporate massive private collections, individual initiatives will remain critical avenues for civic engagement with evolving creative trends. ‘Resemble, Reassemble,’ opened less than a fortnight after a major show of Contemporary Art from Pakistan came to a close at Asia Society Museum in New York. However, it would be detrimental to identify these recent exhibitions as the beginning of Pakistan’s fifteen minutes of fame on the global art stage. While some keen followers of art market(s) seem to follow this approach while commenting on Asian Art, this tendency is a means of undermining a diverse and long-drawn artistic trajectory.
In a time classified as ‘The Age of Terror,’ these creative voices emerge as potent expressions of dissent, optimism and passion. As repeated extremist actions and political blame games continue to threaten fragile peace initiatives, here is a bold attempt that ‘trespasses’ contested boundaries, high-level security, state surveillance and nationalist hostility to put on display the multiple dimensionalities of lived realities and human relationships.
‘Resemble Reassemble,’ will show from January 17, 2010 to May 10, 2010 at the Devi Art Foundation, Sirpur House, Gurgaon. For more information visit www.deviartfoundation.org
References
1. Foucault, Michel (1980), Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings 1972-1977, edited by Colin Gordon, Harvester, London.
2. Blackburne, Clare (2007), (Up) Against the (In) Between: Interstitial Spatiality in Genet and Derrida, Parrhesia Journal, Number 3 (pp.22-32)
3Art work information: “Wherein all plunged and perished” 2007, Unum Babar. Bathroom sink, 3.5 IN. LCD screen, 15 min. (looped)
(Natasha Ginwala is a post-graduate student at the School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU. In 2008, she was part of the curatorial team for the exhibition ‘Where in the World’ at the Devi Art Foundation. She has also completed a post-graduate diploma in Broadcast Journalism from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. Email: nginwala@gmail.com)
