LBF Virtual Museum | 75 Years of Cultural Histories of Pakistan

Public Project, Digital Repository, Virtual Museum

In continuation of the public programming initiated by the Lahore Biennale Foundation (LBF) and in response to the new forming realities post C-19 pandemic, LBF is setting up a Virtual Museum: an online open source digital platform.

It is a Public Art Project based on new and archival research on cultural and artistic research – a platform for artists, creative practitioners and visitors to create projects that investigate their shared cultural heritage and the legacies of creative practice that have emerged from it, with place being a significant contextual frame.

New ways of experiencing and thinking about culture carved out by virtue of technological advances, will be utilized to reconnect the public with their heritage, while simultaneously allowing them to collectively create a new understanding of their current cultural landscape. The virtual museum will amplify local voices in a way its physical counterparts cannot do , as it lets local actors tell their own stories by creating digital representations to serve as emissaries of their cultural values – values that have themselves evolved over time to have multiple meanings. 

PROJECT OBJECTIVES:

1. To develop primary documentation, research material, especially in a country like Pakistan where shared oral history is a vital part of our culture.
2. To develop a repository of art & cultural heritage, literary and artistic craft and its existing cultural landscape that developed through time.
3. To connect people through conversations as an introspective moment to review and re-engage in order to look / build possible future(s) moving ahead. 
4. To create links between academia, the city and its citizens that will be beneficial for a deeper understanding of the heritage and cultural mappings.
5. To further inculcate a deep sense of belonging and cultural identity with our history as well as a larger sense of community within the region, across Pakistan and with the diaspora in the UK.
6. To develop local communities via engaging them in meaningful experiences, interactions and dialogues through public programming, art and cultural activities. 
7. To be developed and laid-out as open-source primary data.
8. To research, document and digitise for online media, especially to create a scalable model of a “virtual museum” that will lead to the creation of  an inclusive network and repository of materials, especially for those on the periphery and in subcultures.

OUTCOMES:

1. Public talks/Walks – one-on-one speaker sessions
2. Round Table Discussions – Interactive and participatory 
3. Small Grants  – for Young Professionals- Open Call
4. Virtual Museum – Research / database/ Digital repository 
5. Capacity building programming integrated into the format 

The LBF Virtual Museum will have multiple components.

1. Women’s Movements of the 80s: Then and Now:

Curator: Farida Batool

This segment reflects on the birth and evolution of women’s movement in Pakistan. It engages with the development of a feminist consciousness and the shifts in feminist politics ranging from political resistance and public-reform based to taking up issues of sexuality and body politics in the public sphere. And, investigates the challenges confronting the contemporary Pakistan women’s movements and the role of arts as a protagonist.

This segment also engages with the themes of women’s access to civic spaces, the relationship between women and the state, religion and feminism, cultural notions of women and its effect on the debate around bodily autonomy. A meditation on the legacy of women’s movements and feminist activism in Pakistan over the course of the last 75 years.

2. Post Modern and Contemporary Movements in Visual Arts and Other Creative Forms:
Curator: Razia Sadiq

This segment interfaces with emerging new forms of modern and contemporary movements and shifts in the visual arts and other creative forms. And, investigates the artistic response to the state of constant evolution we are going through as we live under the influence of new forms of colonisation: religious and political-ideologies, geographic, economic & military influences– especially as influence of foreign powers increase both directly and indirectly in Pakistan and the Global South.

This segment looks at art practises post the advent of modern arts schools – or because of – and the evolution of the Pakistan art scene through multiple catalysts of change. And, the resulting new creative mediums and how they intertwine with questions of postmodernism, decolonisation and identity. Also, examining the place of Pakistan’s contemporary arts movement on the global stage, where disparate contemporary arts movements – each engaging with varying artistic concerns – come together.

Open Call for Artists for this component can be accessed at this link.

3. Post Colonial and Parallel Histories in Art Practices in South Asia:

Curator: Masooma Syed

This segment explores the plurality in the postcolonial identity. As nation states and cultures evolve, the idea of postcolonialism becomes of critical importance, as both states and cultures continue to reinvent themselves– physically, mentally, emotionally, and economically – in order to carve out a new path after being colonised. A hybrid identity exists in nations that have gone through the trauma of colonisation, which contains dual influences of the coloniser and the colonised.

Postcolonial art holds the potential to reveal much about the process of identity formation and could constitute critical starting points for the re-envisioning of postcolonial histories, as we live under the influence of new forms of colonisation – religious ; political-ideological(ies), geographical & military responses, especially as the influence of foreign power increases both directly and indirectly.

This segment is primarily a reflection of 75 years of Pakistan – then and now; a glance at the making of modern art schools – the significance of tea houses, Adbi baithaks, and the role of academic institutions on the Mall road and the making of the new movements and shifts in arts within Pakistan, the region and diaspora.

4. Architecture through Time and Space:

Curator: Tanvir Hasan

This segment examines the evolution in architectural practises with reference to both built and unbuilt spaces, and how architecture influences our lived experience; cultural nuances; and civic sensibility. And, investigates the lasting effects of colonisers on architectural practises, and their desire to leave a lasting legacy to mark their time.

This segment also examines the movements and shifts in architecture and how its current modalities have evolved to and exist in the present time. It charts the architectural response to rapid urban development– now that climate emergencies have made the need for sustainable living a fixed reality, and the struggle of old and new practises to achieve sustainable growth. This segment also engages with the role of decolonisation and democratic architecture in urban spaces.

5. Pakistani Cinema:

Curator: Sarmad Khoosat

This segment will engage with the interlocking movements and shifts within the realms of Pakistani cinema, drama, theatre and dance in relation to the cultural, religious, state and political nuances over the last 75 years.

It will examine various themes, including: the decline and revival of cinema & drama– the divergent paths of the film and drama industry, censorship and cinema, and the rise of independent films and artistic projects.

This segment will also investigate the legacy of the performing arts in Pakistan, by exploring further themes such as: the dying tradition of the Bhand, street theatre and political dissent, infamous night theatres/stage plays & the mujra dances – obscenity or art?– the role of the transgender community within the dance tradition, and the legacy of traditional dance forms in Pakistan. In essence, this segment shall be a meditation on the evolution of local cinema, drama, theatre and dance, and their present state.

6. Legacy of Storytelling and Contemporary Literature in Pakistan and the Diaspora:

Curator: Ali Usman Qasmi

Co-Curator: Mahmood ul Hasan 

This segment reflects on the legacy and evolution of storytelling in Pakistan, and all its varying forms. The oral tradition of dastangoi, the role of literature in imaging the identity of the nation, the development of postcolonial literature, contemporary Pakistani anglophone literature, and the cultural politics of language and its effect on literature. 

This segment also examines the role of literature in decolonising the imagination, postcolonial diaspora literature, folklore and the creative mythology of Pakistan. And it investigates the role of literature in catalying political resistance in Pakistan, the confluence between art and literature and role of the arts in shaping the literary landscape, along with analysing the movements and shifts in urdu and english language literature in Pakistan. 

Open Call for Research Collaborators (Photo Essays) for this component can be accessed at this link.

7. Ilm-e-Mosiqui : Pakistani Classical and Folk Music

Curator: Sarah Zaman 

This segment will pay homage to the rich history of musical legacies and emerging contemporary forms in Pakistan. Various genres of musical expressions (its insularity, teaching system, khayal practises, sanctity of raga time-cycles and gharana loyalties) as well as the craft of instrument making will be explored. Musicologists tend to experiment with their art which can be seen by some as defiance while it leads to formation of new forms of expression; while the audience will go on a historical tour of contributions of pioneers of the classical and folk music through demonstrations, talks, workshops or panel discussions and further upon the conversation by looking at emerging contemporary forms like pop-folk fusion and neo-Sufism. 

As Chaitanya Kunte, musicologist and harmonium player, says, “In the last century, few musicians have paved a path that amalgamates tradition and new thought”, the role of practitioners as change makers within the context of changing political scenarios – as rebel, reformers or interpreters, will also be discussed.