A group show at VM Art Gallery displayed the works of Aqeel Solangi, Hadia Moiz, Huma Mulji, Kamil Baluch, Masuma Halai Khwaja and Sahar Ansari.

The exhibition explores the different perceptions of limitations, horizons and barriers. Boundaries that impact and influence our intelligence, personality traits and world view can either be seen or unseen, can be spoken out loud or continued to be silent. As an intangible phenomenon, boundaries have the power to shape our behavior towards religion, culture and society.

Aqeel Solangi approaches the concept of boundary with an abstract investigation. In urban settings, dwellings are painted with layers of paint, when a wall cracks the layers reveal a process. The artist describes his work as, “ slowly broken layers of paint are simultaneous to an invitation and very slow opening carries suspense. One layer blocks the other in terms if colour, strength, and space. The work hints at the phenomenon of covering and uncovering, the presence and absence of certain elements, and the blurred binary of the inner and outer. These paintings have no beginning and no end”.

Hadia Moiz, a visual artist, strongly believes that boundaries bring with them rules and limitations. “Post colonialism resulted in the redrawing of boundaries between identities, cultures, communities and countries. Miniature painting went through an identity crisis after colonisation when most of the illustrated manuscripts were transported from South Asia to Europe. The precolonial history of miniature painting was written mostly by Westerners from the perspective of Eurocentric 19th-century scholarship.” The artist makes uses of miniature painting books as a medium containing images of centuries old manuscripts paintings. The edges of the book are bound together, and she gradually removes the text with a scalpel while leaving select images from the illustrations in place.

Jamil Baloch, a Lahore based sculptor and painter, deals with abstractions of various social and political happenings in the world. He is inspired by his hometown and its environment, and this can be seen throughout the course of his work.
Masuma Khwaja’s work is done using textiles. Its makes use of personal memory, histories and culture to create narratives that are isolated from their origins.

Each artist presents their own understanding of boundaries, which is deeply impacted by their personal experiences and exposure. They bring something that is unique and different and extremely personal to them.

CAPTION

Jamil Baloch, Untitled, 2023, Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48 inches
Hadia Moiz, The Ajanta Caves, 2022 Original Book
and Gouache, 11.5 inches DIA: 4.5 inches
Aqeel Solangi, Bits of spring are in the walls, 2023 Acrylic and oil on canvas, 42 x 30 inches
Masuma Halai Khwaja, Untitled, 2023, Embroidery and textile collage on linen, 24 x 40 inches
Sahar Ansari, Raizes das Chuvas: The geography of our mother, 2023
Stone Lithography, 14.76 x 10.63 inches