Abstract
In the context of contemporary Pakistani art and their politics, this chapter discusses two works by Rasheed Araeen (1935‑), whose esthetics constitute of their socially productive intervention within a public space and connect to a historical frame. Araeen’s Theory of Nominalism was presented in Karachi, in 2003, and his work, Shamiyaana: Food for Thought, Thought for Change, was installed at Documenta 14, in Athens, in 2017. Araeen’s larger trajectory of subversion and confrontation is well-documented. However, his proposals for land and alternate solutions to potential ecological imbalances and problems of food deprivation and distribution of resources have yet to come under discussion in Pakistan. His esthetics challenges the status quo of inclusive circles, and insists on a broader connection based on an equal access and participation by the public. In this context, the chapter is an attempt to situate Araeen’s work referred to above in a boarder political landscape that offers them a more nuanced understanding.
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Notes
- 1.
For more information on Rasheed Araeen, visit: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/rasheed-araeen-2364
- 2.
See Amra Ali, ‘Stranger at Home’, Dawn, February 18, 2003. This article was originally titled, ‘Dr. Rasheed Araeen: A Profile and Some Thoughts on His Art of Resistance’, and was changed by the editors. This was published a few weeks after Araeen’s presentation in 2001, hosted by Anwar Rammal at Suman House. However, in his book, Araeen has noted it being presented in December 2001. The final version of ‘Nominalism’ was published in Third Text in December 2002 (issue 61), after it was presented in London in April 2002.
- 3.
Email communication between the author and Rasheed Araeen, January 2018.
- 4.
Rasheed Araeen revisited the Netty-Jetty Bridge with this author on the eve of his retrospective, Homecoming, in Karachi, in 2014. The Netty-Jetty Bridge has now become a food street. This subtext refers to Araeen being part of the history of Karachi, especially his link to the 1950s–1960s.
- 5.
My email communication with Araeen, February 8, 2018. On each visit to Karachi, Araeen visits his sister in Baluchistan and has extensive photographic documentation of the land.
- 6.
The Theory of Nominalism was presented in 2002, Karachi. Araeen’s intervention was neither debated nor entertained in the local art circles, except for an article by this author in Dawn, and Niilofur Farrukh in Newsline magazine. Araeen was always seen as if distanced and removed from the local circles.
- 7.
Sometimes the Kanaat (white tent), as the Shamiyaana is also called, is used for seating mourners outside the house for the reciting the Quran, and sharing grief, that concludes with a communal meal. These are culturally expected norms, and wherever these are installed, the neighborhood manages its own traffic diversions in an informal manner and comes together. The Shamiyaana pattern referenced by Araeen is historically significant and also refers to his own structural work, such as Sharbati, and to his recent paintings of flat color bands, with interconnected geometric designs that were first shown in the exhibition, Homecoming, 2014–2015. So, there is a meeting of these histories, in the most unusual intervention in Athens.
- 8.
Excerpt from Skype conversation between this author and Marina Fokidis (January 2018). Fokidis is one of the curators who witnessed the process of the Shamiyaana project at Documenta 14, 2107. She is a curator and writer based in Athens, founding and artistic director of Kunsthalle Athena, and founding and editorial director of the biannual arts and culture publication, South as a State of Mind. Her interviews around the connection of Athens can be seen online at http://myartguides.com/posts/interviews/documenta-14-an-interview-with-marina-fokidis/
- 9.
This author’s email communication with Marina Fokidis, February 9, 2018.
- 10.
- 11.
This author’s communication with Katherina and Rasheed Araeen in December 2017 and January 2018. Katerina Araeen relates many conversations and exchanges at Shamiyaana. These are some of the links in the media on Shamiyaana: https://www.hna.de/kultur/documenta/nur-5-62-statt-9-euro-aerger-um-documenta-loehne-in-athen-8448758.html, photos.app.goo.gl, https://photos.app.goo.gl/xLHJpluRU0baiZjv1
- 12.
Marina Fokidis. Op.cit.
- 13.
Rasheed Araeen, Notes on Shamiyaana for Documenta. Email correspondence, December 2017.
- 14.
Rasheed Araeen, Notes on Shamiyaana for Documenta. Email correspondence, December 2017.
- 15.
The Clifton Bridge has been a mark of social divide in Karachi, separating the more upscale and affluent areas of Clifton and Defense Society from the rest of the city. Incidentally, two of the city’s art colleges are also located on either end of this area.
- 16.
The author’s email exchange with Araeen, September 18, 2014.
- 17.
The author’s email exchange with Araeen, September 18, 2014.
- 18.
From Rasheed Araeen’s extensive collection of brochures and documentation of his shows and art writing from the 1950s and 1960s, in his home in Karachi; also in exhibition catalogue of solo exhibition of Rasheed Araeen published by the Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi, in 1963.
- 19.
Excerpted from the exhibition brochure of Rasheed Araeen’s solo exhibition, published by the Arts Council of Pakistan,Karachi, July 1963.
References
Aikens, Nick. 2017. Rasheed Araeen: A Retrospective. Zurich: JPR Ringer.
Ali, Amra. 2003. Stranger at Home. In Dawn, February 18.
———. 2014. Rasheed Araeen, Homecoming. Karachi: VM Art Gallery.
Araeen, Rasheed. 1979. Making Myself Visible. London: Kala Press.
———. 2010a. Art Beyond Art, Eco-Aesthetics: A Manifesto for the 21st Century. London: Third Text Publications.
———. 2010b. Obstacles, Obstacles and More Obstacles: Art Beyond Art, Eco-Aesthetics: A Manifesto for the 21st Century. London: Third Text Publications.
Areen, Rasheed. 2002. The Art of Resistance: Towards a Concept of Nominalism. Third Text 16 (4): 451–466.
Newman, Michael. 2017. Equality, Resistance, Hospitality, Abstraction and Universality in the Work of Rasheed Araeen. Catalog Essay, Rasheed Araeen: A Retrospective, 2017.
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Ali, A. (2019). Ruptures of Rasheed Araeen in the Politics of Visual Art: Toward a New Art Discourse in Pakistan. In: Perera, S., Pathak, D.N. (eds) Intersections of Contemporary Art, Anthropology and Art History in South Asia. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05852-4_10
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