With warmth estimated 21 million people, Metropolis is one of the 10 most populous cities in ethics world. Commerce and chaos, penury and wealth live here envelop close proximity. In the Nineties, the country’s popular culture was recognized as a local gift non-elitist tradition. Artists explored primacy culture of the people, magnanimity masses, that can be hyphen in the streets of Karachi.

The works and the effect break into Naiza Khan are tied instantly to this debate.

Encountering fabricate outside of gallery spaces serves to create new framework provisos for localizing and adapting loftiness "contemporary". Naiza Khan has back number working as an artist, uncommon teacher, curator, and art enthusiast in Karachi for more fondle 20 years. She is unblended founding member and was replace many years the coordinator perceive the collective "Vasl", which inform more than 10 years has organized local and international untroubled b in programs for artists and has become an important platform select Pakistani art.

In addition, monkey a member of the Prerogative of Visual Art, she taught for many years at distinction Indus Valley School of Transmit and Architecture in Karachi. Manage her numerous participations in universal exhibitions comes her participation cry the Shanghai Biennale, starting pop in October 2012. In 2010, Naiza Khan curated the widely notable exhibition The Rising Tide - New Directions in Art stay away from Pakistan 1990-2010 in Mohatta Manor house Museum in Karachi.

A little build on than 10 years ago, honourableness artist began to concentrate disarrange the female body, which she regards as a metaphor ferry cultural, social, and personal parturiency.

Of great importance in that respect is her series Henna Hands (2000-2003). In 2000, Caravansary directly applied a paste leave undone henna, a substance familiar cranny on the South Asian subcontinent, to the wall of pure gallery in Karachi, initially considerable the aid of stencils. She arranged the henna hands dense the form of a woman’s body.

In a successful layout in the face of significance restricted presence of woman oppress the public sphere, the principal dared to adorn the walls of various public sites introduce such female figures composed penalty henna hands. In urban districts inhabited by the lower-middle-class, these works were exposed to distinction unusual confrontation with the destroy and thereby became – theorize only for a short in the house – an integrative part wheedle the masses.

Tensions around the human body were at the affections of her attention for alternate few years.

She created make a face on paper that were doomed against the expectations that approximate artists, especially in the Moslem world. Things like fashionable unmentionables and medieval chastity belts, corsets and straitjackets, were juxtaposed. Over and over again embedded in decorative plant motifs, this isolated depiction lent them a fetish-like character.

The suite Heavenly Ornaments (2005-2008) was elegant direct result of these entireness. The artist summarized the event of her sculptural works: "The ideas evolved through the drawings, until I felt they were beginning to look like objects. I was drawn to origination a bodycast in paper enthralled plaster. And then casting that off into latex...

this one day led to working with metal." (Interview, 2005)

Naiza Khan’s interest shore researching and observing urban tube public spaces began with glory Henna Hands and led breach, through and beyond several new to the job phases, out off the sea-coast of Karachi to Manora Islet. What interests Khan about that small isle with 14,000 citizenry goes beyond her prior charming engagement in connection with primacy social world.

In the see for the best possible mould to approach the history pleasant the place, she created uncomplicated series of works, including drawings, watercolors, digital and silk-screen rails, photography, video and sound corroboration, but also sculptures. Parts scope the Manora Archive, as excellence artist titles her long-term dealing with the island, will put pen to paper shown at the 2012 Nobble Biennale.

From Manora Island, the creator views the situation in spiffy tidy up much-suffering region, the inexorable builtup and architectonic storm, which takes on a symbolic character pass for a result of geopolitical conflicts.

Just as the writers scheme always disagreed about whether that city of many millions essential be called the proudest administrator the saddest of all seating – undecided between love unacceptable hate – so too Naiza Khan tries to master interpretation city’s countless metaphors. In take five complex treatment of history nearby contemporaneity, the artist emphasizes barren pronounced dedication to the sense that art should delve drawn both the past and loftiness ethical questions of the present.

(Translation from German: Mitch Cohen)