Naiza Khan
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Naiza Khan
Soft-spoken and indefatigable, Naiza Khan has an unusual entry to display at Art Dubai fair. Christened The Crossing, it is a full-size boat with galvanised steel armour pieces placed on it. She shows me a number of small paintings that she worked on as she was trying to find and evolve the installation. She might even take them with her, for they portray the thought process that went into her work. The paintings would be useful corollaries to her exhibit.
In her quest for authenticity, Naiza did not settle for a replica of a fishing boat. She went to different fishing villages along the Karachi coastline and finally found a 16 feet long fishing boat, which had weathered many a storm. The search for the boat was a rewarding experience. It gave her an opportunity to meet members of different fishing communities.
She interacted with the non-locals, if one may use the word - mainly Bangladeshis, the Burmese and the Baloch, who had moved to Karachi in search of better prospects. They somehow epitomised the theme of her work, which is about a journey too. Says Naiza Khan, “The Crossing does not depict an ordinary voyage, it is more than that. The journey is physical, but it is at the same time spiritual. It’s a journey to what may well be a place for salvation, or perhaps end in a doom.”
“The body has always been central to Naiza Khan’s work, both overtly and in more oblique ways… Standing in the pavilion space, Naiza vividly sensed the connection between land and water. Her Heavenly Ornaments catalogue in April 2007 contained photographs of metal corsets and body armour submerged in the sea front around Karachi. Here, then, was the possibility of using a still body of water as an exhibition space.”
Now the question: what is the significance of the armour pieces?
Her artist’s statement answers the question: “The armour pieces float between different time zones. I am not sure if they are about the future or the past. They are like skins that we shed or embrace as we negotiate ‘the crossing’. They mirror the body that stand for a dysfunctional system… at war with itself.”
Somehow her work reminds me of Bosch’s painting The Ship of Fools. Answering the query, she says, “I am glad you feel it that way because in the work that you are referring to Bosch imagines that the whole of mankind is voyaging through the seas of time on a ship, a small ship, that is representative of humanity. Sadly, every one of the representatives is a fool. So in a way it reflects our predicament too. Our ship is drifting aimlessly also and we don’t seem to find a way to the harbour. Thus The Ship of Fools is about us.’’
If asked to describe her work in one word the answer would be “thought-provoking”, she concludes.
Pearl divers, watercolour on Fabriano, 31cm x 46cm The crossing, galvanised steel armour works with fabric and leather, 16ft x 10ft At the Karachi sea front with armour (Photo Arif Mahmood)
