Free and open to the public, the Lahore Biennale 03 will run through Friday, 8th November, complemented by a number of collateral exhibitions and programs scattered all over the city. We recommend following the event’s Instagram page: @lahorebiennalefoundation to remain updated.
This last weekend saw the opening of the much awaited third edition of the Lahore Biennale. Entitled ‘Of Mountains and Seas’ and curated by John Tain, this biennale showcases the convergence of art, environmental awareness, and global collaboration to help imagine alternative futures.
Featuring around sixty artists from over thirty countries who have presented an array of site-specific exhibits and immersive installations the biennale aims to focus on issues caused by environmental degradation, along with illuminating vernacular and indigenous heritage as transformative resources for future sustainability. It explores these themes from the perspectives of Pakistan and the Global South more broadly.
Our editors visited various sites and collateral events this past weekend and revelled in the beautiful weather and conversations around art and culture all around.
Lahore Fort:
One of our favourite sites to visit was the Lahore Fort, where there were three specific areas that were used to showcase work: the Akbari Mahal, the British Barracks and the Royal Kitchens. Clear blue skies after a thunderstorm invited visitors to explore the grounds of this historic place on Sunday. It is always a magical experience to walk through the gates of the Fort, especially now with the marvellously restored Picture Wall alongside them. Walking up the incline to the main Fort, flanked by historic walls on both sides, one cannot but feel transported to a grander era. The Summer Palace at the Fort played host to the LB02, but this time we moved away from that area towards the Diwan-i-Aam side, with its beautiful lawns and newly restored venues.
Nestled snugly next to the Jahangiri Quadrangle is the Akbari Mahal. Stepping inside, like any other venue at the Fort, is akin to entering a time capsule. Inside, a number of artists had their works on display, ranging from site specific installations, video, performance pieces and fine art. Some favourites were Feroza Hakeem’s beautiful canvas work and a room-takeover by Simryn Gill and Stolon Press, which focused brought intricate arboreal patterns indoors.
Next we went on to the British Barracks, a structure we had not visited before, which housed Fazal Rizvi’s contemplative work on glaciers, presented as framed typewritten pages. The interplay between text (poetic prose) and visuals was deeply satisfying.
The Royal Kitchens followed after the Barracks; more recently renovated as compared to the rest of the Fort, these were the site of some truly arresting work, such Ali Kazim’s visuals of mountains.
With the sun setting behind the picturesque Badshahi Mosque and Gurduwara, we headed for a cup of chai and some delicious namakparary in the gardens next to the Diwan-i-Aam where a structure by Yasmeen Lari was being constructed.
All in all, it was a wonderful way to explore different sites of the Fort and engage with art from around the world.
Shalimar Gardens:
The Shalimar Gardens were built by Emperor Shahjahan on the framework of a Persian-style charbagh or a garden of paradise representing utopia on earth. A charbagh is a quadrilateral garden with a layout of four gardens which are often separated by waterways. These are meant to represent the four gardens and four rivers of Paradise mentioned in the Quran. A successful charbagh is often beatific, and the Shalimar Gardens of Baghbanpura offer two charbagh gardens separated by a massive pool. On Oct 7th for an evening of music for the Lahore Biennale 24’ the Bagh’s waterways were filled with thousands and thousands of rose petals while the fountains, painstakingly restored in recent years, gleamed and danced. The terraces, baradari, and pavilions stood out in high relief as visitors marvelled at the stunning chiaroscuro of the lights and the silvery, glittering surface of the water.
The Bagh’s intricate hydrological system consisting of almost 410 fountains has been noted by chief curator, John Tain, as an example of an alternative relation to nature. It was wonderful to see evidence of further restoration of the Bagh being done, for after the hereditary custodianship of the site was taken away from the Mian family of Baghbanpura in 1965, the gardens had fallen into disrepair. Even after it had been granted UNESCO World Heritage site status, there was an aspect of bare neglect to the vista, as the fountains remained dormant, the flower beds empty and the pools derelict and green. The Walled City Authority has brought new life to the beloved gardens in the last few years and this Biennale show introduces a new facet into the conversation of how we can bring historical sites into dialogue with contemporary issues of ecology. In their speeches on the night, Nayyer Ali Dada, Kamran Lashari and Naazish Ataullah brought home the importance of our engagement, presence, and interest in indigenous sites, and of how we cannot view our collective histories with decadent passivity. One could see the throngs of young creatives nod in agreement. The Biennale event at Shalimar Bagh, then, was not centred on the display of artwork, instead the site itself was the central motif. Indeed, the Mughal splendour, impeccable symmetry and centuries old aura stayed with one long after the night was over.
This was just a snippet of what is on display as part of the Lahore Biennale 03. The official sites for the Biennale are:
Lahore Fort
Mall Road (Nasir Bagh till GPO Station)
Bradlaugh Hall
Alhamra on Mall Road
Shalimar Gardens
Each site hosts a variety of artwork that will be up till the show comes down. We hope you step out and engage with the sites and the art, especially now that the weather has turned!
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