MANORA FIELD NOTES // NAIZA KHAN
May 10th 2019 - November 24th 2019
Manora Field Notes by Naiza Khan.
Location: Tanarte / Spazio Tana, Fondamenta della Tana, Castello 2109a, 30122, Venice. Google maps link.
Opening hours: 11:00 - 19:00, closed Monday.
Curator: Zahra Khan
Manora Field Notes is the title of the exhibition representing the inaugural pavilion of Pakistan for the 58. Venice Biennale. The exhibition is a solo project by the multi-disciplinary artist Naiza Khan who immerses the viewer in life on Manora Island according the artist acting as translator and mediator.
Manora Field Notes is an exhibition from artist Naiza Khan who over the last ten years has looked at the transformations of sites such as the expanding Karachi harbour and Manora Island, foregrounding the dimensions of embodiment, ecology and habitation. Her practice is built upon a detailed process of research, documentation and mapping-based investigation of the island looking at how this reshaping reflects wider changes in the Global South.
The exhibition, curated by Zahra Khan, will gain a unique insight into what life is like on Manora Island as portrayed through the lens of that artist. The works engages with multiple bodies of knowledge - archival material, historic myths, conversations with local communities and architectonic phenomena such as ruins and construction sites. It constitutes an archive of lived experience and reflects the shifting power dynamics within the landscape.
Zahra Khan comments: "Naiza's practice, based upon research and observation, brings to life the unique nautical, multicultural and multireligious history of Manora Island, as a microcosm of larger Pakistan. I am thrilled to be working with Naiza on Pakistan's first national pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia. She is the ideal artist to represent Pakistan on this exciting global stage and her work perfectly encapsulates the theme of Biennale Arte 2019."
The artist Naiza Khan also offered her thoughts on the project, stating: "The project for Venice is a culmination of several years of exploration and research, looking at the material culture of Karachi, a port city, and its surroundings. Ideas of friction, optics and atmospheric climates emerge as central to my current concerns. I feel honoured to represent Pakistan and to share this new body of work, situating it within a larger conversation that links Venice to the Persian-Indian-Arab peninsulas through histories of empire and maritime trade."
With thanks to the support from commissioner Syed Jamal Shah, Pakistan National Council of the Arts PNCA, Foundation Art Divvy, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of Pakistan and Rossi & Rossi.
For further information, please contact Alice Clifford at Flint.
