Farooq introduces us to a “safe place” that Pakistan’s marginalized people have made for themselves in his entirely sold-out solo exhibition at the Pakistan Art Forum Gallery in Lahore. After participating in numerous group exhibitions across Pakistan, the USA, the UK, and the UAE, the artist is back for a solo presentation after an eight-year hiatus. The program clarifies the idea of safe places in society and emphasizes how crucial they are to the emergence of subcultures.
Ahmer Farooq is a highly renowned artist from Lahore, Pakistan, whose work examines the difficult process of discovering one’s identity among a web of social constraints. The societal difficulties experienced in Pakistan now are mirrored in Farooq’s paintings, which elicit a wide spectrum of emotions. By incorporating a self-created script of the Urdu language into his paintings, Farooq conceptually investigates the relationship between language and figuration; language very literally gives form to and frames his work.
These interactions are rich in substance, intricate in design, and dynamic, much like the Urdu language. Farooq’s approach has become more interdisciplinary as a result of his experiences organizing art exhibitions. This includes using a range of media and methods as well as integrating authorship variations by letting other influences assist to the works.
Mr. Alfred Grannas, the German Ambassador to Pakistan, introduced the performance. Along with other foreign diplomats and art enthusiasts, Mr. William K. Makaneole, the US Consul General, and Mr. Per Albert Ilsaas, the Norwegian Ambassador, attended the event.
A Safe Space glorifies the “marginalized,” a picture of society that challenges the homogeneous one. It honors the spaces that the “marginalized” make aside for themselves out of both necessity and act of resistance. Inclusion, connection, and celebration of these people’s identities and the lives they choose to lead occur in these places.
Every civilization has a “self” and a “other” due to power disparities, with the latter being structurally, institutionally, and socially excluded. Women, the LGBTQ community, and minorities of all kinds are frequently included in these “marginalized” groups, whose reality are marked, among other things, by a lack of places that restrict their ability to move, live freely, and integrate into society.
The artist hopes that we might see these generally invisible and frequently concealed spaces and lives as art aficionados, collectors, and curators. ‘A Safe Space’ itself is a place of celebration, better understanding, and inclusivity since it acknowledges and values variety.
17 paintings, 1 sculpture, and 1 piece of digital art were on show by the artist. To depict the celebration and significance of such locations in society, the artist employed vivid colors and a variety of textures on the canvases. The paintings on show have several layers of meaning, and the larger pieces feature the artist’s own distinctive Urdu writing, which seems to allude to the subculture of disadvantaged groups. When a member of a community expresses their feelings in a safe environment, certain patterns and colors have symbolic meanings.
Farooq’s extraordinary talent at using contrasting colors and strong hues to make a statement is commendable. Additionally, he employs a variety of textures to elicit a response from the observer. The artworks serve as a highly potent visual tool that captures the emotions, feelings, and expression of joy that these safe spaces provide to the marginalized group. By doing this, it challenges a worldview that regards society as level, uniform, and egalitarian.
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