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

Urbanities

The Lahore Biennale Foundation (LBF) and the Goethe-Institut, in further collaboration with Vasl, Pakistan, launched an open call in May 2016, for an eight-week artist residency, seeking two Germany-based artists and/or researchers interested in cross-disciplinary theory and practice related to cities and urban phenomena. Karachi and Lahore were chosen to house the winning artists. The objective of this residency, in both cities, is to encourage and facilitate a critical exploration of the urban and its peculiarities coupled with the myriad artistic possibilities within the wider frame of each individual’s practice and research approach.

Public Outreach

artSPEAK | Public Engagement through Art

The Lahore-based Awami Art Collective, a group of cultural practitioners, were invited to speak about their aim of bringing art to public spaces and why they considered such interventions to be of importance. Their ethos of celebrating diversity and enabling peaceful co-existence in a pluralist society particularly aligns them with the Lahore Biennale Foundation’s (LBF) own mission. The conversation covered the history of the collective as well as their recent projects and concerns, in order to reflect upon the context in which art can meaningfully engage with public space. The event was held at The Last Word on August 10, ... More

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

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Publications

Stories We Tell – Aao Sunayein Kahani

Stories We Tell 'Aao Sunayein Kahani' is an audio/visual storytelling project of The School of Visual Art and Design (SVAD) at Beaconhouse National University and the Lahore Biennale Foundation (LBF) made possible with the support of the Centre for Culture and Development (CKU). The art of conversation and storytelling has played a pivotal role in suturing together the cultural fabric of South Asia. Since time immemorial this was how histories were transferred between generations; survival narratives were created and exchanged; and instructional anecdotes to sustain everyday life were passed down.

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

Virtual Museum | Manduva: Exploring What We Won’t Like to Call ‘Lollywood’

Manduva is an exploration of seven and a half decades of Pakistani cinema. An attempt to initiate archiving and reading of indigenous cinematic syntax. Pakistan has loved and owned it sometimes but also hated and abandoned it intermittently. It’s part of Pakistan’s heritage and this component attempts to reclaim it, inspect, dissect and interpret. As part of this component of the Virtual Museum, LBF issued two Open Calls, for Filmmakers and Pakistani cinema enthusiasts, and young contributors were selected by the curator, Sarmad Khoosat– a leading filmmaker with international acclaim, to make mini-films reinterpreting Pakistani Cinema. These young filmmakers were ... More

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

We Walk Lahore

Artistic research and publication by Honi Ryan. This artistic research manifested in four main strands, which are represented in this publication in four chapters. Chronologically the first two chapters would be reversed, as Subjective Geographies was the initial research phase, followed by Walking Presence and Footpath Feasibility. The project culminated at the symposium on Urbanities - art and public space in Pakistan at Alhamra Arts Council in December 2016.

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