Sayeda M Habib tried to understand the shift of mind in our society which now became preoccupied by the new world of hi-tech and everyday inventions. She wanted answers to her questions regarding this issue through her paintings in an exhibition titled "Fractured Narratives" at Canvas Gallery, Karachi.
Traditions and civilization are seemed to be lost some where in the contemporary world of science and technology. People wanted to be first to use and know about new innovative gadget in the market but nobody know what made them human being in first place who are making these gadgets. The human civilizations that nurtured talent to create things are being forgotten slowly and gradually.
And this process is fast in eastern societies. In a race to adopt western civilization and traditions we have neglected and left behind our own civilization and traditions. Our civilization is an epitome of knowledge and we must preserve it rather stay in a state of oblivion.
The paintings by Sayeda M Habib very clearly but artistically narrate the whole situation in her paintings. She has chosen to communicate with the people in symbolic forms. She used historical as well as contemporary elements of sub-continent societies to create balance and argument in her paintings.
The images of various animals, Mughal court and Hindu gods along with images of a usual family of mother, father and son showed the past and present to visualize the change easily. Elaborating her work she stated, "Today, we live in a world so preoccupied with change and innovation that we have forgotten the value of traditions that have effectively served human civilizations through the ages. Individuals now believe that they are at the centre of the cosmos, and knowledge is confused with information and fiction. The goal of life is no longer to be human.
We have become mechanized and vacuous, and the importance of evolving into conscious beings is lost. Fractured Narratives looks at the present through lens of the past. Asserting tradition to rekindle that lost consciousness". Taking advantage of art the artist communicated directly with the viewer in an effective way through known elements which helped the viewer in understanding the subject of the painting. Using miniature style she combined forms, symbols and images in harmonious compositions.
Her main medium of work was newsprint other than gouache, oils, acrylic and gold leaf in collage. Without any difficulty she produced desired results by using newsprint in her paintings. These newsprints supported her subject effectively. Most of her works involved symbolic forms rather direct encounters with the viewer.
Talking about the unnecessary exposure to technology in our daily lives her paintings discussed how these exposures have created confusion in the society. The over burden of news from electronic and print media 24/7 also added to the discomfort of people who are already facing various societal problems from poverty to health and education. In this scenario nobody bothers about the values, traditions and civilization of our land.
A painting titled "Punctuations of Time" following this theme showed how technology is connecting world political powers and the people tried to follow them without realizing that they are compromising their past their culture and humanity.
Another painting "The Triad" discussed the human side of our Quaid's motto "Unity, Faith, Discipline" by symbolically naming father faith, mother as unity and a child as discipline. This explanation of our national motto was very unique and understandable, thus giving us the way to implement this motto in our daily lives through our families.
Although all of her paintings have clear vivid images but some of the paintings have an abstract touch as she used geometrical shapes and designs to convey her message. Paintings titled "Leap of Faith", "Shah Tamashah", "What if?", "The Visitation", "The Deep Dig", "Between the Line", "Everything and Nothing" and "Musical Chair" have explained their subjects by their titles impressively. The triptych paintings titled "Azadi" and "Looney Tunes" have intricately detailed juxtaposed compositions.
She argued how news relayed by electronic devices and printed on paper mistakenly taken as the source of knowledge. And that's the way human lives fall prey to this digital world. It created an absence of thought among people specially youth who became preoccupied with the hi-tech gadgets and forgot about their emotional needs that bind them as a family and as a society. Our spiritual enlightenment is lost to media and technology. Thus hi-tech hijacked civilization. [email protected]
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