WHAT INSPIRES YOU AND DRIVES YOUR PRACTICE ?
My practice is idea-driven ; ideas take centre in my imagery and pictorial strategies , and they dictate the medium and format to be employed or if those ideas are to take the form of art or not . I try not to conform to the notion of Art or for any other form of discipline . I believe “ Art ” is a condition of history ( it has existed for the last couple of hundred years only in the sense we have known in the recent past ) and its passing . Therefore , it is not “ art ” per se that I am interested in , but the act of realizing ( my ) ideas in one form or the other , whether it ’ s labelled as Art or not .
In terms of thematic concerns and inspiration , unburdening from the self-imposed pressure of prescriptive and dogmatic ideas of affiliating one ’ s identity to political and cultural boundaries has been one of the core ideas in my practice throughout my career , be it my art-making , teaching or curatorial works , and most presently Eart : A Manifesto of Possibilities – which carries the underlying message of “ one planet , one country ”.
HOW DO YOU THINK ART AND CREATIVITY CAN HELP DRIVE CHANGE IN SOCIETY ?
Art and Artists by nature tend to challenge the status quo ; they are the agents of change through their ground breaking ideas . Therefore , I strongly believe that creative practitioners have an important role to play in society . They must be part of the larger discourse in the region and beyond
The role of art and artists in Pakistan heavily relies upon how we , as a collective society , invest in opportunities that can create fresh legacies . It is critical that the process of creating is free of all restraints and that the artists are given due space and recognition , which can change the ‘ status of the artist ’ in society .