BLOG HAS MOVED

Dear friends, 

I am no longer updating this blog. Please visit www.raania.wordpress.com for all posts, old & new. 

Peace,

Raania

PEACE 2010

Dearest friends, 

2009 for us has been a year filled with learnings, realizations and discoveries. This year we learnt about our limits, realized our dream and discovered our strengths. Though this year was not as joyous for many who lost love and life in war; we believe that time is an asset and life is the longest thing we have. We would like to end this year and begin yet another in the spirit of 

hope, love and most of all: peace. 

It is not the time to create differences, it is the time to celebrate all. 

 Sending a message of peace to our friends all over the world.

May war end and may love prevail.

PEACE 2010

Love, 

Raania, Mansoor & Ivan 

~ Karachi, Pakistan

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Raania Azam Khan Durrani
Clay Artist & Educator
www.raania.blogspot.com

Mansoor Ahmed Ali 

www.emteltechnology.com 

Simple Dimple Khao Suey Palace (Karachi, Pakistan)

SDKP: The world of Asian and Italian Noodles delivered to your door step. Daily 12pm-11:20pm CALL FOR DELIVERY: 0213-5304236 0213-5379940 SDKP Customer Care: 0333-2132414

Utopian prayer for peace in Pakistan

My utopian prayer, 

I hope the beast-like insurgents who bring hate to our beautiful country, who sin in the name of God, are stunned by the magnificence of His celestial shower tonight (Leonid Meteor Shower 2009), and can be inspired to change their ways, ironic how they would have the best view as well...I just read the following and was inspired, "Come to the door, father, the world is surely coming to an end." Another exclaimed: "See! The whole heavens are on fire! All the stars are falling!" These cries brought us all into the open yard, to gaze upon the grandest and most beautiful scene my eyes have ever beheld. It did appear as if every star had left its moorings, and was drifting rapidly in a westerly direction, leaving behind a track of light ..." First-hand account of 1833 Leonid Meteor Shower by Elder Samuel Rogers.

-Raania

End of October in Karachi

28^th October 09

Its is nearly seven pm, the lavender seeds in my make shift seed tray are being acclimatized to Karachi weather as they sit under the fan near the window of my living room, they shall back in the air-conditioned bedroom by night, and hopefully they will germinate if I keep this up. Routine is not my specialty, rules are not my thing and consistency is a virtue I long for.

Yet every time year-end approaches in Karachi, I feel a sense of calm, and it's the same every year. I understand that I like many others are driven by the atmosphere and are affected by the weather and what nature brings to them. I read a quote once which I immediately related to: 'There are three reasons for becoming a writer: the first is that you need the money; the second, that you have something to say that you think the world should know; the third is that you can't think of what to do with the long winter evenings.'(Quentin Crisp)

I have a lot to say, wish I could make money that way…but there is nothing better than a long winter evening, a cozy throw and documenting ones thoughts. Though winter in Karachi as I wrote a few days earlier, is mild and very short – it is most magical; yet more magical that the winter itself is the great anticipation of its arrival. For those of us who have dedicated our lives, hearts and skills to this city- the short, smoky, fragrant and dry winter is a time for renewing our vows and foolishly falling back in love with this city and its baggage every year.

I wrote a few days back; 'its almost time for: nights to be quieter, crabs to be tastier, baths to be warmer, Karachi sun to be friendlier and my faraway friends to be nearer. Just a few days till I eat breakfast under the sun on our tiny terrace, get nostalgic each night under that same small piece of sky that I think I own...If I was Ella, I would sing about the strange anticipation of the mild yet magical winter in Karachi.'

There was a time when each year in spring the smell of lilacs would govern my day and night, those were my years in the evergreen Vermont. My first winter at 47/1 in Karachi brought with it a fragrant surprise. A small tree planted at our entrance, which to my understanding is a relative of the exotic 'raat ki raani' (queen of the night). This variety botanically known as Nyctanthes Arbor-Tristis literally means the 'tree of sorrow' or the 'sad tree'. It blooms each year around October and lasts the winter months.

The scent of these fragile white flowers surrounds my home each year-end, reminding me that winter is arriving. My terrace each evening is drenched in its essence. The smell travels into my home with the breeze, through the windows and other vessels, perfuming my days and nights. It is believed that Lord Krishna brought this heavenly plant to earth.

The tree of sadness, also known as the lovers' tree is known to have grown from the ashes of a suicidal princess who fell in love with the sun. When the sun had set, she took her life. The tree represents her love and sorrow, blooming at night, radiating her passion, telling her story and shedding her tears in form of white fragrant flowers at the first light of dawn; the first sight of her lost love.

It is just the end of October, and our terrace is already populated by most of its winter visitors. The rocket leaves are growing, the summer flowers are gone, the herbs are sprouting, the grey cat 'bilqis' and its annual offspring's are getting cozy behind the Banana palm, and the lovers tree is beginning to sing its tale.

Mansoor and I sat outside after dinner, breathing in the aromatic desert and discussing our winter tree. A few moments later Mansoor claimed to be getting dizzy and sleepy. We come indoors and I resume writing and researching.

Nyctanthes arbor-tristis has several medicinal uses I discover. Other than proving beneficial to patients of jaundice, malaria, fever, cancer, rheumatism and constipation – it is known to induce sleep and tranquilize. Its flowers are known to have been infused and sipped by Buddhist monks longing for a nights rest. I also learn that when tested, it only works on the males.

It is now eleven pm, and I am sitting wide eyed with my laptop on the sofa. Ivan is asleep on the floor to my right. Across me, lying flat on the divan is a sleeping Mansoor, silent and heavy. They both seem to be under the spell of our winter tree.

May your home be as fragrant and your sleep as sound. Goodnight.

 

magic

its almost time..for the candles to burn longer, the feet to be cleaner, the nights to be quieter, for the KESC bill to be much lesser, for the hair to be straighter, for the crabs to be tastier, for the baths to be warmer, for the days to be shorter, for the air to be cleaner, for the Karachi sun to be friendlier, for the roses to be fresher, for my faraway friends to be nearer...its almost time till I wear bright shawls and warm socks, eat breakfast under the sun on our small terrace, and get nostalgic each night under that same small piece of sky that I think I own and imagine the city becoming softer...If I was Ella, I would sing about the strange anticipation of the mild yet magical winter in Karachi.

My Ivan

Pregnant Sky

Heard the rain and thunder in my sleep last night, my room was darker than usual even in the early hours of the morning, and my belly heavier than when I went to bed. The many times I rose to sleep walk myself to the bathroom, I would feel an overwhelming happiness looking at the leaves of trees outside the bathroom window drenched in heavens waters. This city deserves this celestial downpour; it is tired, targeted, dirty and overworked. One shower makes the city come alive with romance and calmness.
Despite my pregnant desires to sleep in I woke along with Mansoor, who is now eager to be in office at eight each morning. I was curious to go out and smell the house after the rain; the musty dim darkness of our living room, which is lined on most sides by large windows, was a labyrinth of shadows. The rain had pacified the heat. The forty degrees, which filled me with sweat yesterday turned into maybe twenty-seven degrees and the water in the taps was icy for our southern standards. The rain had paused, leaving its remnants on my balcony and on the city, plants were so green and the red terracotta of the planters; a wet orange, bright and satisfied.
A phone conversation with my father and a few bites into breakfast, the thunder arrived once more. And the sky broke its water with happiness and relief, feeling lighter, restful and elated. The clouds began breathing better and the potted plants now overflowed with earth and water, spilling the brown liquid surplus onto the balcony floor.
The lamps are lit in my home and lady is singing the song of Mary. I am enjoying the darkness of a monsoon midday shower. The rainfall continues; the sky over Karachi has waited nearly a year to deliver its fruit. I continue to wait eagerly to deliver mine.

After the nap on a humid day in July

The stillness of the sky is inspiring. The sun-filled hot dusty day has transformed during my afternoon slumber into an evening covered in a gray-mauve sky that refuses to breath, as if it is waiting to cry out and express. It is humid and my clothes and body are drenched in sweat, which seems to have an abundant source. The pregnant belly creates a distance between the writing table and I, each time I get excited and move forward to look closely at my writings, I feel the large stiff wholeness against the table and am reminded of my state. The heartburn begins at this time every day, four pm marks the start of an evening of heaviness and my incapability to consume anything without a reaction from my over full body. My baby squirms and shifts inside me like a dancer doing ‘contact improvisation’ with a large piece of fabric. I listen loudly to ‘Ave Maria’ and my body and mind ease itself, losing themselves to feelings of nostalgia, peace and longing.
Raania A. K Durrani

The corkscrews

June 8^th 2009 - Karachi

I was looking out the kitchen window this morning, drinking green tea, observing the neighbours roof where an electrician was fixing some connections. My mind was occupied with mundane thoughts; domestic in nature, washing the bathroom tiles, cleaning the kitchen cabinets, when suddenly my eyes wandered to the left and fixed themselves on the two corkscrews hanging off a hook, looking a bit rusty if I may say so.  It has been eight months, since they were last used. That's a pretty long time sitting idle for the once most used kitchen appliance. Just a few more weeks in hibernation…

Have you ever been in a situation where you just can't find a corkscrew? I sure have, since that day I placed many corkscrews in several parts of my kitchen, so in times of dire need anyone could find one if they opened a drawer or two. There was one time when a friend and I waited for two hours trying to locate one, desperate and thirsty – old school that we are, never realized that it was a twist off. Two hours of irritation, distress, searching and some angry phone calls later, we examined the bottle, twisted off the cap and poured ourselves a much-needed drink. I don't like twist offs. It's like eating steak on a plastic plate. Which reminds me of my ceramics teacher Barry Bartlett who told us once, don't bother cooking great food if you won't serve it in a good pot, just go buy a microwave dinner instead.

And so there are three most important corkscrews in my kitchen. One a light blue one taken from my mother's kitchen when moving into my own house, the second was handed down to me along with a great wine, by my 9^th street neighbour; who I share some great memories with.  It was used and had an electric blue film wrapped around its metal self when I first saw it, it now has very little of that film left. And the third one is a sturdy stainless steel corkscrew given to me by a friend who found religion and lost himself in it, and had no need for a corkscrew anymore.

The corkscrews came with their own memories, and are now being marked with the patina of mine.

Raania Azam Khan Durrani

Articles: URBAN COMFORT, The news international, 26th May 2009

interior URBAN COMFORT When artistic minds collide the after effects are usually amazing. This house is one such example where the fusion of a designer and a filmmaker has resulted in sheer inventive bliss... By Raania. A.K.Durrani Photography by Naqeeb-ur-Rehman Maleeha Choudhary is a fashionista in the true sense. She dresses sharp, contemporary, and stylish and always looks comfortable. Her husband Nasir is artistic, cool and casual. Both of them have a home which truly reflects their styles, and their love for urban comfort. The house is located in a quiet residential street off a very busy Karachi main road. Despite being so near the city traffic the home is sheltered by the street and surrounding houses, which gives it the much loved cosiness and calm. The house which is contractor erected, was designed by the couple themselves, with some assistance from a friend Natasha Ghani. Built in 2006, this house occupies nearly five hundred square yards. It contains two bedrooms, two offices, four bathrooms, one powder room, a large kitchen, one open lounge and dining area and one large basement space, which really is the centre-point of the house. Maleeha is the head designer for her line of clothing 'Daaman'. She earlier worked as a buyer and consultant for a women's clothing store in Karachi. Her own line of clothing is modern, straightforward, and aesthetic, and is becoming very popular amongst the ladies. Maleeha maintains an office and display space for her clothing at her home. Nasir primarily a filmmaker owns and manages 'Periscope' which is a production house specialising mainly in corporate films and documentaries. Nasir's office is also in the house. With both of them working out of the house, the abode has become a multi-faceted space, which almost has a simultaneous occupancy, a double function, and changed personality from day to night. The main door opening up into a small foyer space leads one into the open lounge and dining area and the powder room to the left. This open plan is welcoming and spacious. Beyond the dining area is the kitchen, which is large and minimal, the counter spaces are a chef's delight. The lounge is a sunken space with cosy seating and colourful artwork. The greenery and water feature outside complements the cool blues and greens of this room. Beyond the lounge area on the right is a glass door leading out to the plants, which, surrounds the master bedroom. This creates an illusion of split-levels and is a fantastic solution for bringing the outdoors indoor and utilising space at its best. They do feel that if ever they were to redo the house, they would try to close in the lounge space, as cost effective cooling in the summer becomes a problem. Both Maleeha and Nasir speak of their bedroom and basement as their favourite spaces in the house. A staircase parallel to the living space leads down in the basement. The basement again is open spacious and not typically basement like. It is well lit and decorated with exciting pop art images. The pool table is the main feature of this room and is quite a treat for the guests at their parties. The couple does most of their evening entertainment here in the basement. On one end of the room is a cosy sitting, similar to the lounge upstairs; restful seating, bright soft furnishing, complimented by a mix of contemporary and tropical art and accessories. Maleeha thanks IKEA for a lot of the accessories and interior accents of the house. Neither one of them believes in a formal entertainment space, so there is no drawing room type space in this house. As a result of that all guest usually feel a sense of belonging and warmth when visiting this house, the hosts and the spaces are relaxed and most convivial. Along the open space are the rest of the rooms, the doors opening up into the centre of the basement. Maleeha and Nasir both wanted a warm and comfortable house that would be young, trendy and truly contemporary in design; and most importantly one, which, would fit within a budget. With much hard work, contemplation, decision - making and efficient execution, they succeeded. Their home is a multi-function design that is effective for creative work and good living for these two young active and motivated people.   (Raania A. K Durrani is an artist and educator lives and works in Karachi,www.raania.blogspot.com)

Articles: Wonderwomen, The news international 12 May 2009

Wonder-women

You Magazine, The news international 12 May 2009

By Raania Azam Khan Durrani

During my few years of association with the arts in Pakistan, I have come across several inspiring women artists and exciting art works. In the past few years there has been rapid growth and boom within the visual arts. As an artist and art educator I see a positive shift in the general perception towards art as an academic and career pursuit. Pakistani art is now making its presence felt internationally. Pakistani artists are reaching out, and through the help of artist collectives and galleries they are getting a chance to exhibit worldwide. Every week in the major cities, Karachi and Lahore, there are two to three art exhibit openings. We often see new galleries inaugurated and artists featured. The press supports these artists and mostly all exhibit openings, are well attended by the public and featured by the print media and television. The visual arts are being celebrated and to be an artist is now more glamorous than ever.

Away from this hype, glamour and often clamour and glare, are some women artists who are working away mysteriously, producing work that is sensitive, direct, relevant and contemporary. I am privileged to have had an insight into some of these multi-faceted and sophisticated women's lives and works, which are both stirring and captivating.

 

Samina Raza

She is a self taught and exceptionally skilled artist. Her paintings, mostly watercolour and mixed media represent life, dreams, stories, fantasies and realities. The colours are extremely fresh and almost alive. The drawings so detailed and resolved. Samina's work truly represents her great history and her eclectic choices. Her many years of work as an art teacher and illustrator for children's books reflects in her work, as each piece contains some playfulness, and a riddle like quality. The work is approachable, direct andcommunicative. Samina has exhibited her artwork nationally for several years, in group and solo shows, her latest ork will be on exhibit in Karachi this summer. Samina Raza, artist and mother, began her career in Lahore; she now lives and paints in her wonderfully colourful and dollhouse like home and studio in Karachi.

(SEE IMAGE) 

Ghania Badar

She is womanly and proud, and loves clay. She is fascinated by her pottery wheel, and like most of us clay artists, is tied and most loyal to her medium. She often spends her days working away in her studio at home, and managing her home and kids simultaneously. Ghania's work is ambitious, with limited ceramic resources she aims to produce the conceptually driven work, which delivers the modern art feel in form and finish. I had the chance to show with her once in Lahore at the Al-Hamra Arts Council where she displayed her table piece, colourful, full of form, detailed and narrative. She recently displayed her work addressing the issue of honour killing, at the National Art Gallery in Islamabad. Ghania Badar, artist, mother and homemaker lives and pots up in the hills of Islamabad.

Fizza Saleem

Sensitive, playful and kind, Fizza has explored a variety of mediums and themes during her seven year career. She has trained at the NCA in Lahore and also at the Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture in Karachi. Her drawingsand paintings are enchanting and childlike. Dorothy's magic shoes in the Wizard of Oz inspire Fizza's current work, and through her work she explores a child's world. She has shown nationally in group and solo shows, her latest work is on exhibit in Karachi in May 2009. Fizza Saleem, artist, mother and homemaker lives and works in Karachi.

Nurayah Sheikh Nabi

She is vibrant, feminine, spontaneous and headstrong. So is her work. Her art, which mostly consists of printmaking and drawings, is rich and substantial. Her concepts stemming from the self, the woman, are depicted in the strong marks of her tools. Nurayah's use of the female body in her work is moving, and her skill does justice to the forms. She says about her work, "The fascination of a single line in a circular movement which takes on varying forms or tentacles just on their own, recurring symbols that signify the self in isolation and the self as part of a whole. Stages of life and evolution of self have been constant in my work. This constant back and forth makes my work evolve." Nurayah has exhibited her work nationally at several shows; Nurayah artist, educator, mother and homemaker, belongs to Karachi, but currently lives in Lahore, where she first found art and love.

Aliya Yousuf

Aliya is quiet, pensive and straightforward, works diligently with clay. A medium she hasgrown to love over the years. Trained primarily as a miniaturist, Aliya now focuses on her ceramic sculpture. Her works are detailed, fine and full of form. Her recent works are a series of hand built clay forms, standing precariously and delicately on probe like limbs. Aliya initially worked with low-fired red clay, but has now moved to high-fired clays and is constantly challenging her ceramic skill and knowledge and experimenting with many types of treatments and firings. Aliya has shown in several group shows nationally, and is now working towards a solo exhibit. This summer Aliya will be showing new work in a two-person show in Karachi. Aliya Yousuf artist, educator and dedicated mother lives and works in Karachi.

Sarah Bakhtiyar

Young and positive, this girl has been showing her work since 2005. She is a painter in the true sense. The first solo show, which I curated, consisted of paintings more than fifteen feet in width or height, the show also contained a 30-foot wall mural as the major piece of the show. She uses colours and energy in abundance, sometimes layering with paint, sometimes searching and at times discovering. Her earlier works defined her as an action painter. Even though Sarah began working at a smaller scale recently, the work has no less energy or action. She addresses the space in her paintings as if searching for a solution. Her work truly develops visually and conceptually during the process of being worked upon. Her works are open ended, colourful, moving and growing each day that she works in her studio. She has exhibited her paintings and murals nationally and internationally in solo and group shows. Her new body of work will be on display in Karachi this autumn. Sarah Bakhtiyar an artist, teacher, curator and new homemaker; works and lives in Karachi.

 

Saba Iqbal

She is brutally honest, humourous, and to the point, makes lesser work but each art work delivers a bigger message each time. She is a meticulous person, possessing an even more meticulous artistic skill. Saba is primarily a sculptor and knows her materials inside out. Her works consisting of wood and metal reliefs are detailed, narrative and yet to the point. Her sharp tools and her vivid thoughts mark her works. Her drawings, which often are the precursors to many of her final works, are as scrupulous. Saba's work reflects her thought, without question. The work is not diplomatic and neither is it offensive. She finds humour in the gravest of situations, yet is able to deliver her thought with adequate depth and reason. Saba has shown in group shows nationally, and has a number of furniture design and commissioned projects to her name. Her latest work is inspired by the aboriginal history of Australia. An artist in the true sense, Saba belongs to Karachi, mind, body and soul, but is currently spending time in Australia.

(Author Raania A. K Durrani clay artist and educator lives and works in Karachi www.raania.blogspot.com)

http://jang.com.pk/thenews/may2009-weekly/you-12-05-2009/index.html#1

CONTEMPORARY VISUAL CULTURE BY ALLISON WHITE

Return to Features ON LOCATION Karachi: Cultural Safe Haven By Allison White An ethnically diverse metropolis of 15 million, the port city of Karachi lies on Pakistan's southern coast. Geographically and socially removed from the northwestern tribal areas that Western commentators call "the most dangerous place in the world" because of its reputation as a hotbed of militant fundamentalism, Karachi is the country's financial capital. The city breeds a steely, enterprising spirit that has fueled the development of its artistic community and a local art market driven by young collectors from Karachi's new upper class. Pragmatic yet innovative, the contemporary art produced here reflects the cosmopolitanism of its artists and the experimental agendas of the city's local arts organizations, most notably the nonprofit Vasl and the progressive Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture (IVS). During the last couple of years, new art spaces and commercial ventures such as Koel Gallery, initiated by textile artist Noorjehan Bilgrami, and Gandhara-Art, sprung up almost on a weekly basis in the affluent neighborhoods of Clifton and Defence Housing Authority. The global economic instability that now threatens many of these fledgling galleries felt remote at a recent opening for young photographer Izdeyar Setna, a member of what the English-language newspaper Dawn dubbed the "Karachi fraternity" of leading photographers. By the middle of the evening, the buoyant crowd at the ten-year-old Canvas Gallery had snapped up three-quarters of Setna's impressionistic, double-exposed photographic portraits of women. In late March, Sameera Raja, the owner of Canvas, moved the gallery to join others in Clifton. What Pakistan's largest city lacks is a major museum. With the attention and resources of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party devoted to maintaining law and order in the Northwest Frontier, the government has few residual resources for the arts. Pakistan's first national art museum, the National Art Gallery (NAG) opened in Islamabad—700 miles northeast of Karachi—in late 2007 after decades of planning. But a museum in far-off Islamabad has little impact on Karachiites. Canvas Gallery's Sameera Raja believes that private citizens need to do more to support the arts: "We are a country of rich people and poor government, so the people need to take ownership." Karachi's artists aren't waiting for a government-sponsored museum. Instead they are launching their own initiatives with entrepreneurial zeal, fulfilling a crucial role by integrating global art-making practices into the local scene. The artists' collective Vasl, Urdu for "to come together" or "a meeting point," was founded in 2001 by a band of artists including painters Anwar Saeed, Naiza Khan and sculptor Khalil Chishtee. In December 2008, Vasl partnered with British filmmakers Karen Mirza and Brad Butler on The Museum of Non Participation, a London-Karachi project commissioned by UK-based nonprofit Artangel that questions, in the words of Vasl coordinator Auj Khan, "the systems of modernity underlying the cities as well as systems of making art." In Karachi, this exploration included a food vendor who used a newsletter created by Mirza and Butler to wrap up naan bread for takeout customers. The artists also painted bilingual English-Urdu signs on walls throughout the city that read "The Museum of Non Participation," an appropriation of the graffiti typically used by political parties and businesses. The expansion of Karachi's art community has been supported by the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, founded in 1989 by a group of now-established artists and designers including architects Arshad and Shahid Abdulla, sculptor Shahid Sajjad and textile artist Shehnaz Ismail. Despite the very real implications of Pakistan's unpredictable political and economic environment, the arts are rapidly attracting interest in Karachi as a viable career path. IVS ceramics professor Raania Azam Khan Durrani, who is in her mid-twenties, ran one of Karachi's first alternative, interdisciplinary art spaces, the Commune Artist Colony from 2005 until it closed in 2008. In her own characterization of Karachi's art, Durrani cites the artistic possibilities borne from Karachi's freedom from tradition, allowing artists to experiment with materials, interrogate the boundaries of art and craft, and incorporate the motifs that shape daily experience in the frenetic city. Fellow IVS faculty member Adeela Suleman works with housewares like stainless-steel drain covers, kitchen tongs and tea kettles, which she morphs into sculptures resembling human forms or fashions into colorful helmets—a nod to Karachi's massive contingent of motorcycle riders. According to artist and professor Durriya Kazi, who established the visual studies department at the University of Karachi in 1999: "There is a social and cultural divide among artists as much as there is in Pakistani society. Art schools to a large extent shrink this divide." Unlike IVS, many of the students who study fine art at the University of Karachi come from low-income families, but through the two schools and Vasl, artists from both sides show together. Kazi's former student Abdullah Qamar recently started the Dhaba Art Movement; he and fellow artists organize art activities in the roadside tea stalls, or dhabas, where most of Pakistan's citizens have cheap meals, an effort to bring art to poorer areas. As a relatively safe haven from the fundamentalist violence plaguing northern Pakistan, Karachi is a place where contentious cultural issues can still be investigated. In late January, the London nonprofit gallery Green Cardamom brought their three-city exhibition "Lines of Control," supported by the Rangoonwala Trust, to the Karachi's VM Gallery. Work by Karachi natives Bani Abidi and Roohi Ahmed was shown alongside that of Indian filmmaker Amar Kanwar and multimedia artist Nalini Malani, addressing the controversial legacy of India's 1947 Partition. In March, however, Pakistan's evolving political turmoil gripped Karachiites as lawyers led non-violent demonstrations demanding the re-instatement of the supreme court chief justice ousted by former president Pervez Musharraf. Seen as part of a larger anti-government corruption effort, the protests and chief justice Chaudhry's eventual re-instatement electrified the art community, inspiring hope for political change. Abroad, Karachi's artists are earning growing recognition. Representation of contemporary Pakistani art has been dominated over the past decade by the neo-Mughal miniature painting movement based in Lahore at the National College of Arts, among whose most notable graduates are painters Shazia Sikander, Imran Qureshi and Aisha Khalid. In "Hanging Fire: Contemporary Art from Pakistan," which opens in August at New York's Asia Society, curator Salima Hashmi will include IVS graduate Huma Mulji, now based in Lahore, whose sculptures with taxidermy animals—a camel shoved into a suitcase, a water buffalo stuffed into a drainpipe—are metaphors for development gone awry. Hashmi has also picked IVS faculty member Naiza Khan, known for her layered abstractions and metal sculptures of women's garments. As Karachi's art community steps onto the international stage, it challenges perceptions that Pakistani art is limited to one location, one medium or one history.     home | subscribe | where to find | back issues | advertising | links | about us | contact |
© Copyright 2008 Art Asia Pacific Publishing, LLC.

CV 2009

Raania Azam Khan Durrani

PH: +92-300-8283894

47/1, 13^th street, Khayaban-e-Mujahid, Phase 5, DHA, Karachi, Pakistan

raania.durrani@gmail.com   

www.raania.blogspot.com

 

 

CAREER & EDUCATION HISTORY

 

2001 - 2009   Exhibiting Artist – Visual art & Ceramics (2003-current) –National & International shows www.raania.blogspot.com   Faculty of Ceramics (2003-current) – Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture – www.indusvalley.edu.pk - Karachi   Project coordinator (2008-current) – Friendship International INGO (Pakistan Office) - Karachi   Coordinator Workshops & Exhibitions (2005-2008) - Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture – www.indusvalley.edu.pk - Karachi   Founder/Director & Exhibition Curator  (2005 – 2008) – Commune Artist Colony (creative gathering space for artists)  - Karachi   Ceramic Studio Assistant for artist workshops at Bennington College (2001-2003) – Artists: Barry Bartlett/Arnie Zimmerman/Jeff Oestriech– www.bennington.edu - Bennington VT, USA   Writer (2002) – The News – English newspaper - Karachi   Key Achievements: Participating Artist (2004): Sutra International Artist Workshop, Bhaktapur, Nepal Participating Artist (2008): Goshogowara International woodfire festival – www.makigama.org - Aomori, Japan   Key Skills and professional strengths: §  Experienced art curator, administrator and educator §  Experienced in writing: Creative and documentative §  Skilled clay artist, teacher & art studio manager   Education: §  Bennington College, Vermont, USA - B.A Liberal Arts: Visual Art & Writing (2003)

 

Exhibitions featuring my Art Work Usdan Gallery, Bennington VT, USA September 2001 President's Gallery, Bennington VT, USA March 2002 Usdan Gallery, Bennington VT, USA May 2003 Nugha Mikha, Sutra International Artist Workshop, Open day exhibit, Bhaktapur Nepal June 2004 Commune Artist Colony, Karachi – Opening Exhibit December 2005 Faculty Exhibit, IVS Gallery, Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture February 2006 Tale of the Tile, Mohatta Palace Museum, Karachi June 2006 ASNA Clay Triennial, Arts Council Karachi November 2006 Clay Clan, Al-Hamra Arts Council, Lahore February 2007 Eve, Hamail Gallery, Lahore 2007 Faculty Exhibit, IVS Gallery, Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture February 2007 Faculty Exhibit, IVS Gallery, Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture February 2008 GIWFF Exhibition, Kanayama Gallery, Aomori, Japan July 2008 Solo show, Canvas Gallery, Karachi, September 2008 Faculty Exhibit, IVS Gallery, Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture February 2009 Group Show, Gulmohar Art Gallery, Karachi, February 2009 Group Show, The elephant warehouse, Karachi, March 2009 (Images of art work available on blog: www.raania.blogspot.com )

 

Curatorial projects Some of the significant curatorial projects on my portfolio include: Performance by Bikram Ghosh (Calcutta based percussionist) 1999, VT, USA Performance by Bikram Ghosh and Veena Chandra (NY based sitar player) 2000, VT, USA Performance by Humayun Ferzad Khan (Afghan musician trained by Ustaad Vilayat Ali Khan) 2002, VT, USA Music Workshop conducted by Bikram Ghosh 2003 VT, USA Solo show by Sarah Bakhtiyar 2006 KHI, PK Solo Show by Fareen Butt 2006 KHI, PK Performance by Overload featuring pappu Sain 2006 KHI, PK Solo Show by Abdul Jabbar Gull 2006 KHI, PK Solo show by Sarah Bakhtiyar 2007 KHI, PK Solo Show by Adeela Suleman 2007 (Karachi based sculptor) KHI, PK Group Show by VASL Taaza Tareen residency artists 2007 KHI, PK Group Show by Fine Art Students of the Indus Valley School (Painting, printmaking and sculpture) 2007 KHI, PK Conceptualized and curated the 'Night Café at Miskeen Gali' Mural Project (Public Art by students) 2007 KHI, PK Photography and Video works by Shalalae Jamil and Nurjahan Akhlaq 2008, KHI, PK

 

OBJECTIVE

My education and work history has lead me to explore several aspects of art; art making, art administration, curatorship, documentation and education. I wish to work in environments conducive to intellectual growth, social and cultural progress and most importantly peace and acceptance. I wish to create exciting solutions and constructive platforms for art promotion and appreciation. As a writer I always prefer to express details capturing the essence of the moment being described. Similarly my clay art is also detailed in concept and form, constructed with mostly locally abundant material and highly experimented upon in the making and firing process.

 

REFERENCES

References are available on request.

March 14th 2009

12 days waiting for the rain by Raania A. K Durrani (2004)

(Re-edited March 2008)

Day 1

" I wonder what is in her mind but in my mind...I find only you "

Sunset in Karachi breaks my heart. As evening approaches, your quiet city, which lives in my heart, is being taken over by the loud sounds and bright lights of Karachi. The gloomy mauve of the city evening brings me down. As the sun drops down into the ocean, my heart sinks into the endless thoughts of you.

Day 2

Tonight the air in Karachi is humid and warm. I lie in my bed thinking of what the air is like where you are.

I think of the dark crowded night when we were dressed in white and tiny flames were lit around us. It was the funeral of a lion. I had to climb up some stairs so I could see what was happening beyond the crowd of mourners.

To feel is my strength – to generalize and be numb is my weakness.

Day 3

Many things come between many people and many people between many things. It is natural. Interruptions are real. To withstand these interruptions of reality, we must choose to be real first.

Day4

Our geographical distance is enough to make us suffer; must we also always consider our political boundaries?

Day5

I saw the mountains again. The sudden bends on the curved roads. I met the fair people who enjoy clean air on the higher altitudes. I am traveling once more.

Day 6

Rain is not the same everywhere. I saw the first rains of the monsoon season in another country. I recall running across the tiny street and climbing up the small stairs and then finally finding a dry spot under the door of a huge Temple. I remember the heavy raindrops falling into my coffee cup- diluting the rich, hot liquid into a watery, cold, light and almost dreamlike concoction. I can almost hear the sound of your voice, which sang near me. The pink kite paper, the drenched red bricks, and the many colourful flowers of the small garden – they all added to the scene. They all enjoyed the beat of the rain and the sugar in your sound.

Today I sit in a place away from you, and away from my own home – I hear the continuous raindrops hitting the parked car, which I sit in alone, waiting for the others. It is evening, and the storm was short, but the rainfall seems to be never-ending, No one is with me but the memories of your voice and the smell of the abundant red bricks of your village. I see lush green hills around me. I see absolute organization and planning. I see this gorgeous land coexisting with impressive urbanization. What I do not see is the colourful clothes of the street children. I cannot smell the oil lamps of the temple. I cannot hear the bell, which was rung a hundred times at dawn and dusk.

Amidst the chaos of this rain- the chaos of this rat race, and the clamour of the status conscious women – I realize I do not fit. I do not belong to this new city, I do not know these rain drops, and I do not own this car.

Day 7

Still no rain here. The monsoon has still not arrived, no rain here at home. The happy faces of the smiling children are with me. In lie in bed clad in white covered with layers of white bed linen. I look out the window. I want to go out but I cannot move. Through the window I see some sky- I see the coconut trees and their leaves shimmering in the 5 'o' clock sun. They are dancing in the salty sea air. The longer I look at these green blades, the longer I wish to continue looking at them.

Day 8

They say it rained last night. I was asleep. When I woke up this morning, I saw no signs of any rainfall. There was no smell of the soil and the leaves did not look any greener. Maybe it is all in my mind. Maybe the leaves this morning were a hundred times brighter. Perhaps the dust had settled and the soil was damp. Maybe the air smelled more of the land than of the sea. I would like to believe that. I would like to wake up tomorrow and experience all the above without thinking so hard about it. When I was with you I could see so much. I think of that morning when the leaves were the brightest, the soil of your fertile land was most fragrant. My senses were so alive. I wish to have that morning back. I wish to walk through the heavy afternoon rain. I wish for the sound of those innumerable raindrops to engulf my mind. Maybe it's not the rain that I wait for.

 Day 9

The breeze was priceless tonight.

 Day 10

It begins to drizzle as I sit out here on the steps. The dogs and I enjoy the very scarce but electrifying droplets. I enthusiastically believe that this is rain, when in reality it just a light mist. The breeze is taking the clouds away, I think. I realize that the breeze in my city is unmatched. Leaves of the 'badaam' tree are restlessly moving in all directions. The birds are returning to the trees, they are very loud in the evening; I wonder what it is that they discuss. Usually the moment before the rain is heavy, silent, melancholy and unbearable – but it is just a moment. Today that moment is too long. The breeze continues.

One lonely brown leaf falls to the ground. I look at how different the coconut tree is to the 'badaam' tree. They stand together but their moves are not the same. I hear the voices of some men quietly speaking in the house next door. They are speaking a language that I do not understand. Our homes stand together but our language is not the same. The mist is gone- there is no electrifying spray. Why does it not rain where I am now?

 Day 11

It has been more than two months since I saw the first rain of the monsoon. Been so long since the large raindrop diluted my coffee and your magical sound filled my ear. Yet I am afraid of what it will be like once it does rain. Will my longing end? Is it the monsoon I long for or it something other than just that? August is near its end. Karachi becomes dustier, dirtier, filthier- day by day. We make the money in Sindh and it is invested upcountry. Political chaos, urban decay, over population – all seem to be issues of just Karachi. Sindh suffers.

Friday once was a time when the family got together. The women prepared lunch at home and waited for the men and boys to return from 'Jumma' prayers at the mosque. It was a happy day, a day which we spent with our grandparents when we were young. Now Fridays are difficult days. Friday prayer time is a weekly high alert for terrorist activity. Bombs and bomb scares are common. Guards with Kalashnikovs examine the worshippers prior to entering the mosques. Killing machines have made their way into the places of worship. While praying men think of which one of them has a bomb tied to his chest.

Friday afternoons the air is filled with sounds of the ' Qutba' from different mosques, the once calming sound that I associated with brotherhood and camaraderie, is now a sound that I pray passes without being accompanied by blasts. My Karachi seems unfamiliar to me, as if it is no longer mine. The dark gray clouds are back, and evening in Karachi is heavier than ever.

 Day 12

I lie alone in the darkness of my room. The light of one tiny torch aids my vision and my ability to write. What makes a distance colossal is the different names of the two places. My dark room has transformed itself into a colourless concrete cube. I see nothing, nothing at all.

Revisiting the sketchbook: 1

Looking back at older, attempted or unfinished work is a wonderfully exciting process. These are some older works which I have done in the past few years. The box drawing was done in 2004 while working towards the Annapurna installation in Nepal. It is around the same time that I made the small liquid glass paintings. I have always been inspired by surfaces and layers, and looking through the liquid glass is a dream like and watery experience. The drawings on the box represented brains, thoughts, people and interactions. They were really almost details of the mind, its complications and its beauty. I made many objects and touched many concepts during the past few years, building structures, altered pots, fabric and object casting, tiny kiln god icons and more. In early 2008 I started working on a body titled initially " thin layers of fat clay". I made many of these objects as a precursor to the work i would be doing in Japan and then later showing in Karachi in September 2008. The work in Japan moved from these forms to others, I showed an amalgam of these works in September. The images of the two forms are works done in in Karachi in May 2008. I hope to continue with this movement and refine and resolve this particular body in the future, as I relate to it most. It is current, direct and relevant for me. It visually described the intent and history of its making.