Rohtas 2: An ode to Lahore from afar

Desires of Memory features 23 pieces of art, all but one of them – Sensuous Dimensions, – made in 2012.

A series of paintings in gouache and acrylic on illustration board, labelled Desires of Memory 1-12, are the artist’s dedication to the city for each year she has been away in Melbourne, Australia.

“The 12 paintings are a postcard to Lahore for each year I have been away. It is my personal postcard to the city,” said Qureshi, who holds a solo show each year, on average.

The artist looked to her college days in the early 1990s for inspiration. “I have a vivid memory of the deserted streets in summer, especially in the afternoons, a time I used to take the bus home from college,” she said. The sun is particularly prominent in All the Summer Suns of the City.

The Memory pieces are amalgamations of an outline painting of family photographs and symbols reminiscent of Lahore, such as indigenous species of birds and trees. “I have used old family photos   my husband and children, as well as of my siblings and parents,” said Qureshi.

Five paintings in a series titled Pages are an “allusion to the idea of forgotten history and misquoted references”. Page 140 has a personal significance as the house Qureshi grew up in was addressed 140, she said.

“Also, by misquoting references I meant the way history is misinterpreted by people here. Each historic event has multiple interpretations and details,” she said.

Qureshi says her new work is very different from her previous creations. “It is very different as it is very apolitical. I carefully avoided addressing any themes of colonialism or contemporary political situations. Those connotations influenced my previous works,” she says.

The exhibition also features five-self portraits in digital prints. This is her first exhibition in Lahore since her National College of Arts thesis in 1994. “I have held shows in Karachi and Islamabad but not in Lahore. It has been a special and a very intimidating homecoming as I have visited in a personal capacity several times during the last few years, but this time it has been for a show,” she said.

The exhibition is to run till January 31. Salima Hashmi, the owner of Rohtas 2 Art Gallery, wrote of Qureshi’s work, “Her works are both alluring and complex. Each layer of work deepens the meaning and the context. She has evolved to be more inclusive in her practice, combing the techniques of minimalism as well as the process of creating art, in a lyrical manner.

“Nusra’s transition from colour on wasli to digital print is seamless because her narrative is an evolving one. It follows the reshaping of our times and the impermanence of our trajectories.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 17^th, 2013.