The Karachi Biennale Trust (KBT) recently hosted a reception to introduce KB19 curator Mohammad Zeeshan, a young and innovative Karachi based curator, artist and art educator. KB19 follows KB17 held in Oct-Nov 2017. Encouraged by the public response last year, the Karachi Biennale Trust has taken its first major step towards the second Karachi Biennale scheduled for 2019. The announcing of KB19 curator is the first step in the direction of the groundwork for the exciting art event.

The reception included a set of performative works by four artists. Multidisciplinary visual artist Muhammad Ali presented A Nourisher in Life’s Feast, a performance that explored the role of artist as culture-builder and nourisher, and the connection between the mundane and the ordinary. Visual Artist, performer and art educator Batool Zehra created a carpet on the floor with ashes of various materials, with patterns dispersing as people walked over it, exploring memory and how “everything ultimately disperses”. Young NCA graduate Maryam Saleem, released bubbles in the air through a machine as part of a performance. Repertoire-II, artist Waheeda Bano’s performance represented erasure in the context of individual and collective histories. Her provocative performance had her erasing, scratching and removing words with blades from piles of books. Bano is an artist and curator, engaged in research and writing, as well as her own art practice.

KB19 curator Muhammad Zeeshan’s curatorial practice defines a new attitude in art that foregrounds the urgencies of the current times. To begin his role as the next Karachi Biennale’s curator he has started his work by initiating a research to develop a better understanding of the city of Karachi.