Once Upon a Time in Karachi

Versatile and prolific, Taqi Shaheen has produced over 20 bodies of work along with video installations since his graduation from NCA in 2004, subsequently establishing ‘Dedechi’, a company of artists, musicians and assorted performers to produce collaborative works, including theatre. Those in Karachi will remember two of Shaheen’s memorable theatre sets prepared for the Alliance François de Karachi, for “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “James and the Giant Peach.”

His recent exhibit “Once Upon a Time in Karachi” featured a montage of aerial views composed of collage and digital prints on archival paper and canvas. Taqi has worked with Karachi as a theme several times, but the techniques, diligence and ingenuity he employed in this particular exhibition took his work in a new direction. Technology seems to have become the new membrane of existence in the visual arts world of Pakistan.

"I used to concentrate on the political side of Karachi, but now I see that there are several other aspects to it"

“I used to concentrate on the political side of Karachi, but now I see that there are several other aspects to it,” says the artist, and the show captures broadly the transitions of location and time in today’s urban environment, through the themes of urban living, celebration, loss and rootlessness.

One could call this show a bird’s eye view of the city, since so much of the work features satellite images. “These images are freely available on the web, however they are generally very low resolution.  That was a major problem for me, as they were the only reference I had, and frankly, I couldn’t possibly use them. So I stitched hundreds of them together to produce each image, representing the city itself and the city in transformation.” He stitches images either by digital processing or collaging, overlapping them with existing archival newspapers or documentation work.

A noteworthy feature of his work with satellite images is its symmetry, and “The Birth” is one such piece.  “These look like church windows!” I exclaimed, on first seeing the piece with its three identical arches, though actually they are images of the National Highway, constituting the entry and exit points of Karachi.  “From an aerial point of view,” explained Taqi, “This highway does in fact arch at various points,” and by the use of mirroring, juxtaposing and later stitching them to areas on the outskirts of the city, he has presented the city’s expansion. As to the title, at the top of the picture there are in fact images of the womb and the foetus, among very fertile lands, newly born as it were, very green, but probably fated to be encroached upon by the merciless advance of urban areas.

“Seasons of the Sea” appears on archival paper as a sort of collage, some of the details being from satellite images. These details are seen when looking closely at the pigeon winging its way across the top of the piece, while below is a glimpse of the city. The subject here is the monthly mean sea level of Karachi from 1920 to 2010, showing how the sea is undergoing its own transformation, just like the cityscape. The data is presented very clearly, and the image has been enhanced by an attractive arrangement of various washes, while interestingly, dark red blotches appear at the bottom of the picture. “Are these blood?” I asked a bit naively. “No,” said Taqi. “They are splashes of ink, a very natural occurrence, along with tea stains in an archival image, telling of its authenticity.”

Reference to Karachi’s history is seen in the archival print, “The Prince’s Memoirs”. This, with its archaic photographs of historical landmarks like the Sindh Club and Frere Hall, and its panoramic view of old Karachi, bears witness to what the Prince of Wales, visiting the subcontinent in 1096 wrote in his memoirs, as well as showing how history overlaps the present. Taqi was intrigued by the idea of imposing recent satellite images of the city, along with hand-cut images of pigeons over the archival newspaper print. It is a pleasing composition, the faded archival paper adding nostalgic value. The pigeons – one bearing a satellite image of Karachi today, the other pure white –convey a message of how this place has changed, along with the value of archives and their wealth of information for generations to come.

“Study of Urban Man” borrows Da Vinci’s famous image of man. For Taqi Shaheen it becomes relevant to urban man, placed at one of the entry points to Karachi, and showing how he influences the urban sprawl, in that the higher he raises his hands, the further the city expands. The mountainous peaks thus produced accentuate the rapidity of population rise, while the lower portion, with the man’s lower extremities hidden beneath an abstract, monochromatic image of the city, shows how we may lose our identity and energy amongst such rapid urban growth. Thus there is a reason - though not intended by Da Vinci - for the man’s grim expression.

I mentioned the lovebirds touching beaks in the centre of the image, but was corrected by Shaheen, who informed me that when birds do this, it is actually an aggressive gesture

“A Few More Reasons to Love You” displays crude, plain maps existing in files, the wash treatment given by Taqi giving the paper a very worn out, archival look. The data given records the increase in population, from 14,000 in 1838 to 13 lac 50 thousand in 1953. In the process of this we note how the mangrove covered areas have shrunk as the city has undergone transformation. I mentioned the lovebirds touching beaks in the centre of the image, but was corrected by Shaheen, who informed me that when birds do this, it is actually an aggressive gesture - in this instance expressing a fight over territory. There is also an element of celebration of the growing population, though the birds’ behaviour is a reminder of how too close proximity of too many people may well be detrimental to peace of mind and regard for fellow citizens. It may also produce problems like inadequate infrastructure and acute shortages of fuel, such as we are experiencing right now.

“The Right Man” is somehow intriguing, not only to viewers but to the artist himself. We laughed at the title, then he explained that quite a few viewers had given different interpretations of this picture.  “Primarily, this is a satellite image with roads, densely populated and slightly expanded areas. But for me, once you put these particular images together, the result looks like a pair of glasses. And I see a face there, so the question arises, considering the city’s major expansion, as to who is the right man to live here. There are so many people with their own schools of thought, their own ethnicity and so on. On account of this I felt, well, everybody thinks he is right in his own way, that he is the right man to live here, while others are intruders.” underlines the fact that Karachi’s is a continual voyage of expansion.

“Still Life and the City” looks for all the world like a floral arrangement, and with its vibrant colour stands out from its neighbours in this show.  One can even spot a few actual leaves here and there, and flowers, though it is actually another collage on paper, with satellite images superimposed over “Dawn” pieces. It also bears some resemblance to a map, due to the white lines like roads running here and there; however these are actually joins in the papers. “As life goes on, you can see still life in this place, though I feel that it’s not still. Whatever Karachi has undergone, it is still a living organism.”

Ultimately this exhibition opens up a lot of questions about the city, its population explosion, its density, violence and fragmented identity. And it is through such questions that Shaheen explores and helps other grasp the complexity of existence in a city as difficult to encapsulate as Karachi.