LB04

Open call for poets: Conference of the Stray Birds invites contributions from across Eurasia

Conference of the Stray Birds will present its inaugural collection of poems at Lahore Biennale 04: The Shape of Coexistence, taking place in spring 2027. The collection reflects on the legacies and possible afterlives of twentieth-century internationalism across Eurasia. Of particular importance to us are the internationalist writers’ conferences that took place across Soviet Central Eurasia in the post–World War II period. At these gatherings, writers and poets from different countries came together to share ... More

Programs

Lahore Sangat – Plaques

Sangat Lahore is paying tribute to the extraordinary women and men by putting up distinctive blue enamel plaques in their memory, at places where they lived or worked. These exceptional individuals  were painters, writers, poets, architects and master craftsmen, wrestlers, storytellers, actors, scholars, teachers, revolutionaries, philosophers, jurists, cooks, weavers, embroiderers,  designers, doctors, philanthropists, saints, mystics, musicians, singers, freedom fighters, dancers, sportsmen and women, dramatists, travelers, composers, publishers, journalists,  theatre and film personalities. The list is part of an ongoing process that is being added through additional research and contributions by the people of Lahore and beyond.

Public Outreach

Community Meetings

The objective of these meetings is to engage the art community, or public communities, in a conversation that enables them and the Lahore Biennale Foundation (LBF) to critically reflect upon their practices and related concerns. The LBF is cognizant of the fact that it cannot function in a vacuum and relies on the community to ascertain areas of need, so it may deliver accordingly in the most effective manner possible. Opportunities for such discussions are few and far apart in the artistic spaces at present; to counter that, the focus is on encouraging their frequency and enabling productive dialogue.

Publications

CORD OF DESIRES

CORD OF DESIRES by Miro Craemer was created during his two-months artist residency in Karachi, Pakistan, hosted by Vasl Artists' Collective, in the framework of Urbanities - art and public space in Pakistan.

Programs

Zero Waste Initiative

The Lahore Biennale Foundation (LBF) is committed to fostering sustainable practices through its Zero Waste Initiative, aimed at reducing the environmental footprint of our projects and daily operations. As part of this commitment, we have implemented a comprehensive waste management system that emphasizes recycling, repurposing, and responsible disposal methods.

Programs

Project | Rejuvenation of JPMC Waiting Area, Karachi

LBF seeks to encourage creative, community-centric approaches to public interventions; the design of an outdoor waiting area at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) by artists Naima Dadabhoy and Roohi Ahmed makes manifest one of the many aims of the foundation.A collaboration between the Lahore Biennale Foundation (LBF) and the Patients’ Aid Foundation (PAF), Karachi, Innovations in Public Space was the first ever project implemented by the foundation in the city of Karachi.

Public Outreach

Dekho Lahore

Launched in 2015, the web-based collaboration between the Lahore Biennale Foundation and the public, #DekhoLahore, was planned as a visual investigation of LBF’s home base. Creative individuals were encouraged to photograph the city’s many facets on a weekly basis, and the selected images were shared on our social media outlets regularly.

Research

LBF Research Fellowship: Building A National Film Archive

Announced in Summer 2018, the Lahore Biennale Foundation Research Fellowship was open to any individual or collective interested in researching any aspect of modern or contemporary art and visual culture of Pakistan. Award selection was based on the clear identification of the research methodology and archives used, and the relevance of the topic in contributing new knowledge and insight. A public announcement of the award resulted in many submitted applications. The final selection was made by an independent jury. Artist Hira Nabi was the recipient. The total amount awarded for the 2018 cycle was Rs. 300,000. The distinguished mentor for this ... More

Publications

Gleaners Notebook

Gleaners Notebook, an A5 format notebook specially produced for LB03, takes as its point of departure the small-scale workshops that produce the bulk of exercise books for the city’s many students. The printers employ older paper ruling machines that use inked thread to line the sheets, and require some degree of manual labor. As part of the process, accidents or off-registered paper are generated during warm up and slow down. Made from these castoffs, the Gleaners Notebook emerges out of Yang’s longstanding practice of transforming school exercise books, diaries, and other such vernacular printed matter into artist publications. In doing ... More

Publications

Lahore Biennale Reader 02

Between Jan 26 and Feb 29, 2020, the Lahore Biennale 02 was exhibited at multiple sites across Lahore, Pakistan. Hoor Al Qasimi curated the work of over eighty artists and collectives under the theme of Between The Sun And The Moon, emphasizing participation from the Global South and with a stress on artists and works from Africa, Central Asia, West Asia and their diasporas. The multifaceted Biennale program included exhibited works, performances, participatory settings, publications ... More