Sept 8, 2009: Pakistan's Art
I was surprised to learn, Pakistan has, and has had from it's inception, a thriving art community... and since the '80s a contemporary art community.
“Hanging Fire,” which opens next Thursday, is the first major survey of contemporary art from Pakistan to be presented by an American museum. And for many artists and curators who have long worked in relative obscurity in Pakistan’s contemporary art world — one that has been thriving since the 1980s despite and perhaps in some ways because of the country’s instability — it is a highly anticipated event.
Ms. Abbas, who has given the traditionally human female face of the steed some of her own features, imagines it as a kind of life-size toy, one she has climbed up on and ridden herself, though doing so too publicly in Pakistan could court dangerous misinterpretations. “You have to be careful,” she said. “The smallest things can end up being big things — you never know. And the big things no one seems to notice.”
Though her work has dealt openly with sexual imagery and has been displayed cautiously within Pakistan — like much other contemporary work there — in private showings at galleries, she said that her reasons for sometimes pulling back from making work that might be too confrontational are mostly personal. “There are things I have thought of doing and did not do, in part because I didn’t want to offend my parents,” she said.
On a lighter note...
Ms. Mulji’s strangely stranded water buffalo (the one here, in an unanticipated conceptual twist, is American, stuffed by a taxidermist in Rhinbeck, N.Y., because of toxicity concerns about the original in Pakistan) grew out of the artist’s exploration of the strangeness of rampant development in a mostly rural, underdeveloped nation.
linkThe ears and tail on the bull look like they have hair on them. And it just wouldn't have been right had the artist left off the huge nutsack.
The third picture has to be a depiction of one's expression when someone kicks them in their groin.:nadkick:
Why were you surprised by that?
Because I've never seen it mentioned anywhere.
Ahh. fair enough:)
I guess you probably don't have a large Pakistani community over there:)
Not in my neighborhood, although I've worked with a number of engineers. They don't talk about art much though.
I have to admit I kind of like the pouncing bull art. :)
that stuff is just awful. I prefer the country's traditional folk art.
I think the buffalo is amazing. Actually the screaming faces one is pretty awesome too imo.
I, too, prefer the stranded buff. It's the only one that's edible.:D
gravy and taters..... nom nom nom...
I don't think you'd like the stuffing.:greenface
... but look at them taters!
[Channeling Golem]What's 'taters' precious?[/Golem]
Gollum! a golem is something else
Watch out for the nerd police, Gravdigr!
Gollum! a golem is something else
Oh.
You know, I think that's out of line. I wasn't being mean about it, just commenting.
so, I'm a nerd just because I'm educated and read? You oughta try it sometime, Zengum. Then you might have something actually useful to say instead of limiting yourself to snarky one-liners.
(disgusted face)
Have you read any books about how to chill out and not inappropriately snap at people,
...or about how always posturing yourself as the alpha geek doesn't leave a positive impression?
I can't recommend any titles because I haven't read those book either.
Yes, I have. Is it inappropriate to snap at people when they snap back at you?
I'm sorry, I'm just stressed out today and crying. But I am neither a nerd nor a geek.
and I am not happy with Zengum. It seems all he does lately is make fun of people and make snarky comments, and this time it was directed at me. So I said something.
Sorry you are having a bad time.
But, ZenGum? Sorry, I don't see it. In internet terms, ZenGum has the threat rating of your grandmother, baking cookies for you.
I wish someone would make me cookies. right now!
Hey Cloud, this is for you:
[ATTACH]24724[/ATTACH]
My comment was aimed at gravdigr. If you hadn't said what you did, I would have.
Flashes Nerd Credentials: LotR, chapter Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbits, scene in Ithillien, just before meeting Faramir.
I deserve that, I suppose.
Flashes Nerd Credentials: LotR, chapter Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbits, scene in Ithillien, just before meeting Faramir.
The chapter with Frodo, Sam, & Faramir is one of my favorite chapters.
(nods) that's the chapter with the Window on the West, and they see the oliphaunts . . .
um . . .
okay, fine. nerd it is.
All my fora suffered my bad mood today, I'm afraid.
@ cloud; @ Zen; @ Flint; ::lol2:
Oh, BTW, Flint, screw you. My grandmother died in a horrific cookie baking accident. But it was in December, so I'm not sure if that counts.
Toxicity concerns? What the heck do they use for taxidermy in Pakistan?
Probably chrome, and/or mercury, and/or arsenic.
Or maybe they stuff it with poop, like the old Tijuana upholstery shops. :D