John Tain, Curator of Lahore Biennale 03, most recently served as Head of Research at Asia Art Archive (AAA, 2017-2023). His projects included AAA’s contribution to documenta fifteen (2022); the Art Schools of Asia seminar and symposium (2021-22); the exhibition Crafting Communities (2020), devoted to Thailand-based Womanifesto; and MAHASSA (Modern Art Histories in and across Africa, and South and Southeast Asia, 2019-2020). He has served as a series editor for Afterall’s Exhibition Histories, and is a co-editor for the Intersecting Modernisms project. He also serves as an advisor for Asia Forum, an ongoing collateral event at the Venice Biennale.
The Shalimar Gardens (Punjabi, Urdu: شالیمار باغ) are a vast Mughal garden complex. The Gardens were designed as a Persian paradise garden with the aim of creating an earthly utopia–a representation of paradise on earth–where humans and nature harmoniously coexist. The name "Shalimar" comes from the Arabic expression Shah al-‘imarat (Master of Buildings). Construction of the gardens commenced in 1641 during the rule of Emperor Shah Jahan and was completed in 1642. In 1981, the Shalimar Gardens were recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for representing the pinnacle of Mughal garden design.
The hammam or the royal bath (Urdu: شالیمار باغ حمام) within the Shalimar Garden is situated on the east side of the middle terrace. It was originally decorated with pietra dura work, a decorative technique using small pieces of stone or glass. This 17th-century bathing complex fell into disrepair after the decline of the Mughal Empire. Currently, the Hammam is undergoing a restoration process, aimed at preserving the original water features, drainage, heating systems, floor level, and architectural features.
Weaving footage from diverse hydrographies such as the Colorado, the Yaqui, the Xingu, the Spree and the Magdalena Rivers, Carolina Caycedo’s To Stop Being a Threat and to Become a Promise (2017) contrasts the ancestral and rural 'campesino' lifestyle found throughout the Americas with extractivist approaches to water and land by juxtaposing encountered perspectives and understandings of what a territory is, and how it may be inhabited.