Residency | Theertha Performing Arts Seminar

Residency, Workshop, Seminar, Performance

The Theertha Artists Collective, with support from the Lahore Biennale Foundation (LBF), invited two artists from Pakistan to participate in the international performing platform Borderlines in Colombo. Borderlines saw multiple performances in Borella, on March 16, 2015, as a result of a weeklong residency.

Following a jury process with Salima Hashmi, Ayesha Jatoi and Asma Mundrawala, Zoya Siddiqui and Farwa Hassan Rizvi were selected from Lahore. From March 13 to 15, 2015, the participating artists took part in outreach activities such as seminars, workshops for students and artist talks. In addition, an exhibition called Performed opened at the Lionel Wednt Art Gallery, showcasing previous work from the artists.

Participating performance artists were encouraged to work within the theme of Borders and lines: the temporality of landscape. Borders and lines, while being different in their function are inseparable from each other as visual metaphors and lived experiences. The concepts of border and line are entwined with the temporality of landscape and by implication, they become embodied concepts.

Thinking along these lines– oscillating between the concepts of border, line and landscape – the complex concept of landscape becomes the ‘world’ as it is known, as it is experienced, and as it is imagined by those who dwell therein– those who journey along the paths, connecting lines and borders, constructing webs and networks of associations– networks of ownership. Imagining space couched within and defined by borders and lines is an essential nature of the subjectivity of the nation-state inhabitant. This perhaps lies in the center of contemporary anxieties of knowing and experiencing the world and life.

Zoya Siddiqui is a visual artist based in Lahore, whose practice traverses performance, videos, video-installations and digital photography. Each body of work stems as a response to its own context and specificities. Siddiqui has been part of residencies at the Vasl Artists Collective Karachi, In-Situ UK and Triangle Arts Association, NY. Recent shows include ‘Geology of a Home’ Solo Opening at the Brierfield Mill, ‘Points of Convergence’ Solo Show at Rohtas, ‘Home’ Group Show at Canvas, and ‘Everything Is Embedded in History’ at the Lahore Literary Festival.

Umme Farwa Hassan Rizvi, b. 1990, graduated from the Beaconhouse National University in 2014 and currently resides in Lahore. She has showcased her works in Lahore and Islamabad. Through her practice, Rizvi tests her physical limits, invoking discomfort whilst also commenting on conformative values. She makes use of her own body in performance and video pieces.

Lahore Biennale Foundation in association with Theerta International Artists Collective.

Photo Credits:

Lahore Biennale Foundation

Theerta International Artists Collective