Community Meetings
MeetingsThe agenda of these meetings is to engage the art community and publics 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 space at present; to counter that, the focus is on encouraging their frequency and enabling productive dialogue.
A Conversation with Asma Mahmood
Rohtas 2 Gallery
January 19, 2016
LBF’s third community meeting had Nour Aslam (Director Programs, LBF) in conversation with Canada-based visual artist and curator Asma Mahmood, who is also the founder of the Canadian Community Arts Initiative. The talk focused on Demo-graphics; a Biennale scheduled for the Greater Toronto Area in spring 2017. The relationship between community and art within the context of the soft power of museums and current economies was explored, along with how the application model varies between Pakistan and Canada.
A Conversation with Antje Wietzel
The Last Word
December 19, 2015
LBF entered into a conversation with Antje Weitzel, a vastly experienced curator and project manager based in Berlin. She engaged the audience with a comprehensive history of the Berlin Biennale and the context that it was conceived in, as well as the necessity for it at the time. The biennale’s history was inextricably linked to that of the city, with the former taking critical cues from the latter. In addition, she presented an overview of the curatorial vision for each of the biennales and the public response to the respective visions.
Conversation – Visual Arts
Nairang Art Gallery and Cafe
June 16, 2015
One of the primary aims of the LBF is to identify opportunities to collaborate and engage with the visual arts, in addition to examining the existing gaps therein. Since its conception, the foundation has sought to be critically involved in the field and to this end, the first ever community meeting was geared towards entering into a dialogue with various participants from the visual arts community. The discussion revolved around the need and capacity for the visual arts.
Speaker: Asma Mahmood
Asma Mahmood has been involved in various art and culture initiatives in Canada, as well as globally. She is the Co-Founder & Artistic Director of the TD Mosaic South Asian festival, ‘Rock the Coliseum,’ an independent music festival, the Mosaic International South Asian Film Festival, and the Promenade Gallery in Mississauga. In 2012, Mahmood received the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee medal for her services in the arts and cultural communities in Canada.
Speaker: Antje Weitzel
Antje Weitzel founded Uqbar, which is a project space, and has been in-charge of programming and curation there since 2013. She has been significantly involved with the Berlin Biennale since it’s 7th edition that took place in 2012, as the person responsible for production and controlling. She has curated two projects in 2015: 2. Berlin Herbstsalon, Maxim Gorki Theatre and Post-Soviet Cassandras, Galerie im Körnerpark, Berlin.
LBF would like to acknowledge the Goethe-Institut for their support in arranging Weitzel’s visit for the Community Meeting 2
LBF would like to acknowledge the Canada Council for the Arts for their support in arranging Nour Aslam’s visit for the Community Meeting 3
