Project No: 12
Revealing Identities by Sabina Gillani
Jl. Cigadung Raya Tengah No. 42 (Studio Rosid)
Bandung – Indonesia
mail.platform@gmail.com
https://infoplatform3.wordpress.com
t.+62 22 825 22 727
Opening : May 13, 2012 . 5 PM
Following by artist talk
Exhibition Until June 10, 2012
Special Presentation :
“ Bandung Art Event/BAE2001 ” oleh Rifky Effendy
Sun, 3 June 2012,. 2 AM
Free Admission
Artist’s
Statement
“Our freedom to assert our personal identities can sometimes be extraordinarily limited in the eyes of others, no matter how we see ourselves.”
Amartya Sen in “Identity and Violence”.
In recent years I have been exploring the notions of identity and the role played by gender and religious and civilizational classifications in the perception and attribution of identity. Over the past few decades, I have had the opportunity of observing issues of identity related to gender and religious and civilizational classifications in Pakistan and in Algeria.
I have found that, in spite of the categorization imposed by the state and/or the dominant members of society, the women have struggled to assert their identities as they see themselves. The discrimination and the violence engendered by such classifications though not the same do indeed exist at different levels, shielded by old customs and practices that are accepted unquestioningly.
My work is an hommage to these women, who try to take control of their destinies and to exist as multi-‐faceted human beings instead of as beings with a single identity. In the case of religious classification, for certain fundamentalists one‘s identity is asserted by the religion that one belongs to, suppressing all other identities. As far as Muslim fundamentalism is concerned one’s identity is Islamic, pertaining to a particular kind of Islam and nothing else. I have taken the case of suicide bombers who accept this classification imposed on to them to perpetrate a violently barbaric act to achieve an eternity of sublime beauty. The portraits are a combination of different techniques and technical approaches, all greatly influenced by my experiences as a printmaker: photography, digital art work and Mughal miniature painting*.
Which is characterized by its rigueur and the use of minute marks to build up colour and texture. Initially the objective of this particular image building process was to look at the tradition of Mughal miniature painting in the contemporary context.
SABINA GILLANI
*The Mughal school of miniature painting was established in Mughal India in the 16th Century CE as a result of contacts between Persian miniature painters and Indian artists.
Sabina Gillani
Born in 1965. Lahore, Pakistan.
Lives and works between France and Pakistan.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2008
Centre Culturel Franﾍais d’Alger. Algiers, Algeria
Galerie Guedjati. SŽtif, Algeria
2006
Rohtas II. Lahore, Pakistan.
1996
Rohtas Gallery. Islamabad, Pakistan.
Gallery NCA. Lahore, Pakistan.
1992 Rohtas Gallery. Islamabad, Pakistan.
Gallery 306. Toronto, Canada.
1991 Chawkundi Gallery. Karachi, Pakistan.
Interiors Gallery. Islamabad, Pakistan.
Selected Group Exhibitions
2005 “Re-inventing narratives”. Galerie el Fassi. Rabat, Morocco.
2003 “Calme, douceur et voluptŽ” La Biennale d’Issy. MusŽe de la cartes ˆ jouer. Issy les Moulineaux,
France.
2000 “Pakistan : Another Vision”. Brunei Gallery, SOAS. London, UK.
1997 “Rumours of spring”. Colombo, Sri Lanka.
1996 Chawkundi Gallery. Karachi, Pakistan.
1995 “Out of Pakistan”. Boston, USA.
1994 “An Intelligent Rebellion”. Cartwright Hall, Bradford City Museum. Bradford, UK.
“Prints from the Slade School”. Elektra Fine Art. Toronto, Canada.
National Gallery. Islamabad, Pakistan.
Open Studio. Toronto, Canada.
1991 Rohtas Gallery. Islamabad, Pakistan.
“Women painters of Pakistan”. National Gallery. Islamabad, Pakistan.
Shakir Ali Museum. Lahore, Pakistan.
Workshops
1999 Aftershave International Workshop. Jos, Nigeria.
Catalogues and books
Re-inventing narratives. 2005
Women Artists of Pakistan. 2000
Pakistan: Another Vision. 2000
Rumours of Spring. 1997
An Intelligent Rebellion. 1994
Grants and sholarships
1992 Aga Khan Foundation Scholarship. Canada.
1992 Ontario Council of Arts. Canada.
1991 Don Philips Scholarship for etching and lithography. Open Studio. Toronto, Canada.
Collections
Cartwright Hall, Bradford City Museum. Bradford, UK.
High Commission of Pakistan. New Delhi, India.
Governor’s House. Sind. Karachi, Pakistan.
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