Upon an initial glance, we are able to see art created with spray-paint, generating a “street-art” vibe, a medium that artists such as Banksy have adopted to communicate an important message to the masses or to political leaders. Intrinsic, detailed miniature paintings also catch the eye once you walk in through the door. The gallery has allowed the artist to create a unique environment, sending out a loud message that is impossible to ignore: the opposing views surrounding culture wars, the blasphemy law and the heinous, tribalistic fallacies of Pakistan’s unfortunate Talibanisation phenomenon.
‘Love in the Time of Mufti Naeem’ is a call to join the culture wars in Pakistan. Beautifully executed on the blank, white walls of artist Asma Mahmood’s Promenade Gallery located in Mississauga, the exhibition is Shaan Taseer’s first solo exhibition in Canada.
The exhibition is a call to join the culture wars in Pakistan
Shaan Taseer is a self-taught artist and formerly a chartered accountant. Taseer has been an artist since childhood, and was always praised for his talent by his peers throughout his school years. However, Taseer decided to pursue his post-secondary studies in something more ‘practical’ and safe - the mundane path trodden by many others. Taseer eventually adopted the path of passion and took it upon himself to create protest art that speaks up for the masses - religious minorities, victims of the blasphemy law and prominent Pakistani activists who have been shamelessly killed, simply because they exercised their right to freedom of expression. And why Mufti Naeem?
“Mufti Naeem is the number one religious policeman. He represents the invasion of rights. He represents the fault lines between progressive thought and the culture of bullying,” as Taseer put it quite simply.
Another reference to the horrors of religion-based violence in Pakistan
‘Faasla na rekhein pyaar honey dein’, created with watercolours, looks down upon aesthetically pleasing, virgin-white homes of an area in Santorini - untainted homes. However, above the homes the artist has added some aluminum, heart-shaped balloons carrying the words “I Love You” and heart prints on them. Perhaps during Taseer’s travels to these Zen-like, picturesque getaways, the troubles of Pakistan and unfair restrictions such as the ban on Valentine’s Day were always on the artist’s mind. Apart from balloons, kites are also used in Taseer’s flawless depictions of vertical Greek and Moroccan landscapes to represent Basant: the annual kite-flying event that has been eradicated from Pakistani culture. Thus he highlights the importance of the ban on both Valentine’s Day and Basant - as both celebrations of embracing love and joy could get you in trouble. Another painting within the exhibition represents the Valentine’s Day theme once again, complemented with a mural honouring the tragically slain Sabeen Mahmud.
Placed adjacent to the previous painting is ‘Aylan (2012-2015) - The little boy washed ashore’. Aylan was the three-year-old Syrian Kurdish child who drowned in the Mediterranean sea and his heartrending death caused an intense wave of global mourning. The piece consists of two paintings, and the first is a heavenly, azure-blue portrayal of the shore of Kos, peeking out in-between two walls. Kos is the Greek island towards which Aylan and his family were headed by boat. In the second painting, the scene and setting is almost identical, however in the following image there is a blue window on one of the walls, the path is slightly more curved and there is a white balloon afloat, representing Aylan - white symbolises innocence, purity and goodness. Human beings have a tendency to be quite resilient and like most other news of tragedies, we eventually move past mourning and essentially ‘get over it’. But it is not so for Taseer. And perhaps for those who believe in heaven, that could well be the place of freedom Aylan was headed towards, instead.
Poppies are a recurring element in some of Taseer’s paintings. His painting ‘Lal Masjid’ displays the famed mosque at three different angles, in three separate paintings, covered in poppies just below the dome. The Lal Masjid is a violent reminder of Pakistan’s suffering due to Talibanisation, associated as it is with a bloody eight-day siege where fifty-four students and security personnel died. Poppies are symbolically worn in remembrance of slain veterans and their colour, red, represents human blood and life. The painting is a stirring symbol and honours those who died at the merciless hands of Islamic extremists, especially the Tehrik-i-Taliban.
The word “GOJRA”, written using the traditional method of finger-painting, in a blood-red colour, is surrounded by seven dripping, bloody handprints on one space of the gallery’s white walls. The presentation is poignant and evocative, as it represents the deaths of Christian citizens of Pakistan during the Gojra riots of 2009. Just above is a painting depicting the forty houses that were set ablaze during the riots - a deep purple tone is used the represent the sky, caused by the smoke and fire, and darker, murkier tones are used to emphasise the houses. The watercolours are bleeding onto one another. Taseer has taken care to ensure that the majority of his watercolour paintings don’t overflow or overlap colours, but this one bleeds into a blur, representing the sorrow, loss and tragedy of the Gojra riots.
'Fallen Comrades'
'Gojra'
The walls have been spray painted with stencilled, poster-like images of murdered Pakistani activists
The final painting in the series is set on a wall by itself, titled ‘The Fallen Comrades’. On an external and superficial level, the piece is quite simple to digest - we are able to see a set of lawn chairs surrounding a matching table, perhaps on a patio or veranda. The chairs are laid out in a casual manner, pointed towards each other and almost seems like someone is still sitting there, or as if they just got up to leave, arousing curiosity and a wide range of possibilities to an audience. Taseer’s inspiration behind this piece was Ryan Gander’s use of twelve palettes to represent twelve members of his family, each in vivid colours with a powerful colour vocabulary. Gander provided you with the tools to use your imagination and explore endlessly, as Taseer has achieved here as well. ‘In honour of fallen heroes’, the final painting, represents Sabeen Mahmud, Khurram Zaki and Aitzaz Hassan. As Taseer put it, “these are the comrades who’ve gone, these are the chairs they’ve left behind.”
The hashtag #PakistaniForAll has been stencilled and then spraypainted onto a blank white wall adjacent to the main entrance of the gallery. Pakistan For All is “a citizen’s resistance forum, fighting religious and state fascism”. Pakistan For All tries to involve as many people as possible in activism by encouraging people to convert their good intentions for a secular, pluralistic Pakistan into concrete action. The initiative carries the aim to fight extremism and the blasphemy. The initiative carries the aim to fight extremism and the blasphemy law, and was set up alongside Sabeen Mahmud and her friends shortly before her death. Throughout the exhibition, the walls have been spray painted with stencilled, poster-like images of murdered Pakistani activists and human rights heroes, similar to the way we would see a political electoral campaign poster during a jalsa (rally). The stencils include Aitzaz Hassan, Rashid Rahman, Shahbaz Bhatti, Asim Butt and Taseer’s late, slain father, Salmaan Taseer. On one of the walls, using black spray paint, the words ‘SAVE MANDI BAHAUDDIN’ have been sprayed onto the wall, joined by a Christian cross - a projection of their progressive heroes and what they stood for, and currently continue to stand for. For Khurram Zaki, however, whom the exhibition is dedicated to, there is a minimalist portrait of a single poppy to honour him, made with watercolour and gouache to prevent unwanted bleeding. The poppy is surrounded by blue, the colour of the sea and the sky - a representation of heaven, loyalty and truth. Zaki’s death occurred a week prior to the opening of Taseer’s exhibition, providing Taseer with inadequate time to create a stencil of him.
Shaan Taseer's tribute to recently murdered activist Khurram Zaki
'Lal Masjid'
The exhibition runs until the 30th of May and I strongly urge any Pakistanis - or anyone for that matter, in Canada - with a love for humanity in general, and/or Pakistan to attend Taseer’s exhibition, which will undoubtedly move you and act as a reminder of all the horrific terror-related crimes and human rights violations that have occurred in recent years. Art is a powerful medium, as Taseer put it. The power of the paintbrush is formidable. One example of such art is Picasso’s famous “Guernica”, a representation of a Spanish village of that name, which was attacked by German and Italian warplanes, at the request of General Franco and his Spanish nationalists and fascists - a cataclysmic symbol of war and blind nationalism. Taseer believes there is an urgency to act in Pakistani culture wars, as we are all a part of them, whether we wish to be or not.
