Pakistan - the visual culture PDF Print E-mail
Tuesday, 23 February 2010 08:06
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By Huma Yusuf

Pakistanis are hungry for visual representations of their own culture. What else explains the success of designer Maheen Khan’s truck art-inspired Gulabo line, the wildfire popularity of reproductions of Lollywood posters, and the prevalence of new art that grapples with Pakistani standards such as the passport stamp or Jinnah’s portrait?

Originally published on Dawn


Certainly, the hunt for an indigenous iconography is on. But what, precisely, that iconography constitutes — its roots, influences, stylistic parameters, and contemporary incarnations — has not been articulated. Until now.

Mazaar, Bazaar: Design and Visual Culture in Pakistan, edited and designed by Saima Zaidi, is an unprecedented volume that documents this country’s visual culture, both high- and low-brow, across the spectrum of art, politics, and society. This encyclopedic effort comprises 33 essays by an array of artists, critics, scholars, curators, and advertising bigwigs, including two photo essays by Arif Mahmood and Amean J and a collection of political cartoons by Feica.

The front of this Rs100 currency note is a part of a series presented to the Quaid-e-Azam by the Ministry of Finance, on April 1, 1948. Issued by the Reserve Bank of India, the note is overprinted with 'Government of Pakistan' in English and Urdu – Image from Mazaar, BazaarCertain essays even include interviews: for example, Hasan Zaidi’s ‘Aina: Publicity Design as a Reflection of Lollywood’ benefits from the memories of Ustad Faiz Rahi, a cinema hoarding artist.

As such, the book is a hefty treat for those who are academically as well as artistically inclined. In text, the book provides sharp insights into the evolution of a national stylistic, and therefore, identity. And through a kaleidoscope of rare and familiar images, the book reveals how Pakistan has been framed, interpreted, projected, and packaged for public visual consumption.

After all, in a nation with a less than 50 per cent literacy rate, images tell a far more compelling story of this country’s search for an identity than prose ever could.

Each essay in Mazaar, Bazaar offers parallel narratives in text and visuals (the latter are separately captioned, annotated and referenced throughout the volume). In some cases, there is strong symbiosis, as the essay deconstructs the images provided.

For example, in ‘Signs of the Times: A Pictorial History of Pakistan through Postage Stamps,’ Rubina Saigol and Adil Salahuddin walk the reader/viewer through dozens of Pakistani stamps since 1947 — all reprinted in the volume —pointing out quirks and politically significant omissions.

In other cases, an analytic essay accompanies a series of images that are separately interpreted. Durre S. Ahmed’s two essays for the volume involve prose and pictures that are only thematically linked. In ‘The Journey: Buraq,

Jhuley Lal and Zuljinnah,’ Ahmed’s essay explores the horizontal and vertical (that is, physical and spiritual) planes of a journey, while fascinating images of the mythical winged creature, the patron saint of travelers, and Imam Hussain’s steed are simultaneously contextualised and deconstructed.

There are only a few essays in which the reader wishes for a tighter coupling of text and image. For instance, ‘Currents in Currency: Design of Currency Notes’ offers a comprehensive and well annotated look at the rupee over the decades, but Quddus Mirza’s accompanying essay does little to further one’s understanding of our monetary identity.

Those who are bored of paeans to truck art, will still be enamoured by ‘The Semiotics of the Nation’s Icons: The Art of Truck and Miniature Painting’ by M. Imran Qureshi and Naazish Ata-Ullah. This textual and visual essay compares motifs in truck art and the neo-miniaturist painting that has emerged from the National College of Arts.

Even the most avid art collector will enjoy the juxtaposition and delight at the similarities that emerge in the two mediums — a testament to the fact that there is indeed a ‘democratised’ visual culture in post-Partition Pakistan.
The ‘Be Pakistani, Buy Pakistani’ section of the book, which traces the development of unmistakably Pakistani brands such as Pakola, Rooh Afza, and PIA, is the most accessible (read: non-academic).

Readers will enjoy flipping through old advertisements as well as gathering tidbits about brands that they’ve always consumed, but perhaps never really known.

That said, serendipitous finds — essays on artifacts and practices one didn’t expect in a volume on Pakistani visual culture — are amongst the most engrossing. Michel Boivin’s ‘Horsemen and Saviours: Iconography in Hindu Communities of 20th Century Sindh’ considers the role of the horseman in Hindu visual narratives; Malcolm Hutcheson and Atteqa Ali’s ‘Rooh Keench: Backdrops for Photography’ deconstructs the escapist backdrops for portrait photography; Aasim Akhtar’s ‘The Mace and the Sceptre: Iconography in Pehelwan (Wrestler) Posters’ evokes the fascinating sub-culture of wrestling; and Fancisco José Luis’s ‘Guru Nanak Shah Faqir: Sufi and Shia Elements in the Representation of Guru Nanak’ offers a detailed analysis of a mid-19th century portrait of the Sikh guru.

The Oxford University Press has outdone itself with regards to printing quality, an important feat in a book that depends entirely on the clarity of its visuals. Zaidi’s layout and design, too, are funky and accessible. Occasionally, images and the captions or annotations that accompany them appear on separate pages, leaving a curious reader flapping about.

It is also unclear why photography and image credits have been provided at the back of the book, as few readers will make the effort to seek out a citation for an eye-catching visual. But this is hairsplitting.

Overall, Mazaar, Bazaar is an incredible and important book, one that will prove an invaluable resource for anyone drawn to the images, icons, impressions and interpretations that capture what it means to be Pakistani.

Mazaar, Bazaar: Design and visual culture in Pakistan
Edited and designed by Saima Zaidi
Oxford University Press, Karachi
ISBN 978-0-19-547594-4
347pp. Rs3,000

Last Updated on Tuesday, 23 February 2010 08:20
 

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