Highlights from across the border

Inspired by the country's social and cultural landscape, the last decade has seen Pakistani artists and designers evolve beyond traditional boundaries. We've already seen artists like Rashid Rana and Imran Quereshi bring together socio-political concerns with contemporary technologies and aesthetic sensibilities but there's a great deal of new and innovative work being produced beyond the border and it just so happens that women are at the forefront of this new wave.

Artists like Bani Abidi, Shahzia Sikander, Naiza Khan, Aisha Khalid and Farida Batool use their work to re-examine Pakistani society and re-evaluate their place within it. A new generation of female artists from the country are gaining critical acclaim both in the region and internationally. Lahore is becoming an important hub of south asian art. This week I'd like to visit the practices of three young artists based in Lahore whose works provide interesting insights into their country and South Asia in general.

Nadia Khawaja

Born in 1977 and based in Lahore, Khawaja's drawings, photography and video works explore ideas of timelessness, spirituality and display a tension between precision, discipline and freedom. Khawaja's black felt-tip drawings are often large scaled and immensely detailed. Circle by circle, line by line, every detail is done by hand with a high degree of precision. Her patterns are undoubtedly mathematical yet their sense of rhythm render them organic. The idea behind her work is an attempt to reveal to herself her own inner being by contemplating the various influences in her life.

"I grew up without any sense of belonging to a particular culture or country. My identity has been shaped by every interaction and every experience in my life, " Khawaja explains in many interviews, ''My work is about going beyond the layers of social and cultural conditioning to find my real self. I believe that every human being has this quest for self-discovery and self-expression." Khawaja's visual language is filled with dualisms, it is abstract yet universal, fragmented yet whole and complex yet simple.

Huma Mulji

The artist, Huma Mulji, often addresses notions of neglect and the dysfunctional and calls attention to the isolation and flux of urban existence. Born in 1970 in Karachi and now based in Lahore, Mulji's sculptural work traverses the edge between fact and fiction. Laden with an air of nostalgia her surreal juxtapositioning of elements humourously draws attention to the absurdities of everyday life. Ideas of travel, transition, and of mental and physical movement are also an important aspect of Mulji's practice. She refers to the experience of living in Pakistan as 'living 300 years in the past and 30 years in the future all at once'.

Mulji's concerns with cultural differences come from influences in regions like India, Pakistan and even Middle East. She explores the space between the traditional and modern, positioning her work in this juncture with a subtle humour. Taxidermy is also an important part of Mulji's work, for instance in Arabian Delight, a taxidermied camel is forced into a suitcase, addressing ideas of the relocation of cultures.

Risham Syed

Risham Syed is known for her exploration of post colonialism, capitalism and the demographic renaissance. The city is an important part of Syed's practice, scenes of Lahore are often depicted in photographic works. But Syed's cityscapes evoke a sense of turbulence; development schemes are isolated, construction debris is left scattered across a disoriented urban landscape. For instance her postcard like paintings installed at Project 88 sucessfully gave viewers a glimpse into life across the border in Lahore.

Born in 1969, Syed trained as a painter but often combines found objects, embroidery, woven fabric with her work. She also has a long career in teaching art where she notes that there has been an increase in the number of Pakistani art students who prefer more experimental practices like video art and digital media over painting. Syed draws on real and imagined narratives of the present and colonial histories.