Jeenay ke hain chaar din: a tender ode to friendship
Picture this: On a chilly winter evening, three friends visit the Karachi Fish Harbour at Keamari. One becomes obsessed with an iridescent, 5-kilogram fish.
“I was instantly drawn to this one beautiful fish,” recalls Safwan Sabzwari, Karachi-based multi-disciplinary artist, when asked what inspired his latest exhibit. He went on to joke about how his friends would not, for practical reasons, let him purchase the beloved sea creature. Faced with a limitation, the artist, fascinated by beauty he cannot possess, tuned in to a different kind of hunger.
After the curious encounter with the fish, Asad Kamran, multi-disciplinary artist and founder of Cinema 73, an independent community space in Seaview Township, Karachi, reached out to Safwan with reflections on fascination, playfulness and art-making.
Fast forward a week, and the duo has cooked up a storm, showcasing a series of larger-than-life paintings celebrating the dynamism of friendship and intimacy in a fast-paced, urban city.
As the new year began and December festivities drew to an end, the duo deep-dove into an intense, marathon painting session at their studio in Badr Commercial, spanning four consecutive days. Their goal was to communicate with eacother about the city they love and their place in it through a medium that was strictly non-verbal.
The second I stepped into the garage-turned-studio, I was intoxicated. Bollywood wedding hits played on the loudspeaker, garlands of marigolds and roses adorned the walls, and Asad gently invited all his guests to apply rose-scented ittr to their wrists as they moved through the space. The walls were lined with bold, whimsical expressionist paintings whose playful titles – ‘Please Don’t Leave’, ‘Machli Jal ki Rani Hai’ and ‘Fragility ki Mala’ to name a few – were chalked onto the blackboard walls.
Even among the clutter of sounds and smells, the bright, bold strokes on each canvas stood out. The artwork, like the city it celebrates, confronts you from all sides.