"People in Pakistan have experienced terror attacks and bomb blasts too many times, however they are still looking for good things and seeking hope. We are a brave nation, and this needs to be told to the world". This was stated by Imran Qureshi, one of the leading contemporary artists in Pakistan, who has opened his first solo exhibition at KUNSTEN Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg, Denmark.
The exhibition, which is being supported by the Government of Denmark under its Pakistan Culture Development Programme, was inaugurated by the Danish Minister of Culture Bertel Haarder. The exhibition, which has drawn the attention of both the people and media in Denmark, referred to social conditions in Pakistan, while also making references to the violence and injustice that affect innocent people around the world every day, especially in Pakistan.
Qureshi is also hoping that the exhibition will challenge the audience's images of Pakistan, which he believes is mostly associated with bombs and terror attacks due to the way Pakistan is covered in the international media. "There are so many positive things happening in Pakistan, especially within the contemporary art scene and in the music, film and the fashion industry. People need to break the stereotype images of Pakistan and seek new images", said Qureshi.
He stressed that to achieve that, it is necessary to have cultural exchange activities such as this exhibition, which provided different cultures and nations the opportunity to meet, collaborate and learn more about each other. Imran Qureshi has created two striking installations, which included a huge floor painting and an enormous mountain, consisting of 30,000 sheets of crumpled red painted paper. Furthermore, the exhibition included small, meticulous miniature paintings as well as large abstract paintings. The red colour explosions served as pictorial metaphors of the violence and fear that has characterised the world since 9/11 2001. But beneath the surface, life and hope steadily trickles out of the landscape.
The references to violence and the contrasts between life and death became uncannily present while Imran Qureshi was finishing the installations in Denmark. Two days before the arts museum opened his exhibition, militant groups attacked the Bacha Khan University in Charsadda city.
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