here is a popular belief in our culture that, in the final moments of a person’s life, their entire existence is replayed in their mind’s eye. The last days of a calendar year are not dissimilar to this phenomenon, especially the week prior to New Year’s Eve when one reflects on and examines achievements, successes, surprises, disappointments, aborted plans and wasted opportunities. This reflection can be a practical aid in tackling the upcoming year.

What happens inside the brain of an individual often parallels the life of a nation. As we stand on the cusp of 2024 and 2025, one reflects on the journey of art within, around and about the Islamic Republic. In 2024, several remarkable exhibitions were held in Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad and beyond Pakistan’s borders. However, to borrow a phrase from Richard Flanagan, “To list is to exclude.” Yet I would argue that the year witnessed some major shows, particularly at the newly established Barracks Art Museum, located in a public park in Lahore.

Imran Qureshi, Hamra Abbas and Adeela Suleman put up a solo exhibitions each there. Unlike private galleries, these exhibitions were organised for longer durations, allowing viewers the opportunity to engage with the work by visiting more than once.

At the venue, a memorable installation by Ehsan-ul Haq and Iqra Tanveer was featured as part of Lahore Biennale 03. Both artists, based in the Netherlands, recreated fragments of memory, loss and displacement through objects, arrangements, constructions and video projections. The entire installation, comprising separate parts, invoked a multiplicity of bygone times, intricately interwoven.

The third edition of the Lahore Biennale, titled Of Mountains and Seas and curated by John Tan, invited artists from Pakistan and other regions to respond to the theme of ecology. Located across various venues, including historic and heritage buildings, the biennale aimed to connect the public with the productions, practices and languages of contemporary art. A distinct feature of this year’s event was the significant number of collateral events curated at public, private and parallel spaces. As a result, the biennale period felt like a festival celebrating art and its diversity.

Pakistan, the fifth most populous nation in the world, has a relatively small art circle, with fewer galleries, art schools and collectors. Yet, the country takes pride in hosting two biennales: in Lahore and Karachi. These events are usually scheduled in alternate years, but 2024 was an exception, as both the Lahore and Karachi Biennales were held in the same year. Curated by Waheeda Baloch and titled Risq/ Risk, the Karachi Biennale aimed “to spark critical conversations about intricate relationships between food security, environmental sustainability, social justice and cultural heritage.”

The most honest and comprehensive understanding of local situations is frequently gathered from external sources. Impartial, objective and clear commentary frequently comes from news channels and radio stations based abroad, particularly during oppressive regimes characterised by censorship and repression. This phenomenon also occurs in the realm of art, though for different reasons, as seen in the last quarter of 2024 with Manzar: Art and Architecture from Pakistan 1940s to Today. Curated by Caroline Hancock, Aurélien Lemonier and Zarmeene Shah and held at the National Museum of Qatar in Doha, the exhibition featured artworks, architectural examples and archival documents showcasing the country’s cultural, social and political developments.

A notable aspect of this extensive exhibition was the side-by-side presentation of art and architecture, complementing each other. The works of eminent architects such as Nayyar Ali Dada, Kamil Khan Mumtaz and Yasmin Lari, among others, were displayed through building models, initial sketches, working drawings and mechanical layouts.

This year, another prominent architect, Naeem Pasha, published a book titled Documenting the National Art Gallery Pakistan. The book includes his personal accounts, research and plans for designing the current structure of Pakistan’s premier house of art and culture in Islamabad.

While several artists held solo exhibitions in galleries abroad and participated in art fairs in Mumbai, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Paris, the work of a few was also featured in international biennales, such as the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale in Riyadh. The Biennale, titled After Rain, was described by Ute Meta Bauer, the Artistic Director of the second edition, as “a metaphor for presenting the Biennale as a nourishing experience filled with life. The reference also acknowledges the importance of water for all living beings.”

The work of artists originating from Pakistan addressed the theme while aligning with its broader context. For instance, Lala Rukh’s Untitled (2011) suggested seascapes at night, depicting a lone wave illuminated by the moon. The presence and significance of organic entities were also evident in Mariah Lookman’s project, which explored her forefathers’ business. She collected herbs, spices, nuts and seeds in glass jars, creating a tangible testimony to how “rivers meet the sea.” Hamra Abbas addressed ecosystem shifts and the melting of glaciers in Mountain 5, her spectacular mosaic composed of lapis lazuli and granite. The variations of blue tones in the piece invited abstract interpretations of the image.

The biennale in the Saudi capital also featured work by two other artists from Pakistan, examining the changing dynamics of cities, expanding urbanisation and the resulting alienation. Rasheed Araeen’s sequence of square structures alluded to the transformation of natural phenomena into constructed order, while Seher Shah’s Of Dust and Measure (5-9) revealed ruptures between spaces, incorporating the shadows of surveillance. Karachi-born Shah, like many South Asians, reflected on her experiences and memories of these phenomena.

The chronology of biennales reveals a simple yet paradoxical fact: although most are named after and held in a single city, they are not confined to one urban settlement or nation. Artists’ residencies often follow a similar format. While based at a specific venue, these initiatives invite participants from various places, including different countries.

The concluding phase of the Vasl Curators’ Residency in April – a collaboration between Vasl Artists’ Association Karachi, Gasworks London and the British Council Pakistan – demonstrated how multiple individuals can interpret the concept of curating through diverse practices. One outcome of this nine-month programme was the exhibition Afterwards, curated by Sehrish Mustafa. It was staged in a dilapidated, disintegrating and disused structure in Lyari, an underprivileged neighbourhood of Karachi.

The local residents, unaccustomed to encountering so-called high art, engaged enthusiastically with the exhibition’s video projections, site-specific installations, mixed media sculptures, paintings and work on paper displayed at the Haji Abdullah Haroon Vocational Training Centre.

Articulate Studios, a parallel art space located in the historic district of Lahore near Shalimar Gardens – and disconnected from the usual art geography – organised two artists’ residencies in 2024. Both Power of Art and Horizon at Home brought together practitioners from diverse disciplines. They explored the complexities of urban environments, examining class differences within cities and comparing the environmental conditions of metropolises like Lahore and Karachi with less industrialised areas, such as Chitral or a village in Sindh. These projects highlighted the often-overlooked responsibility of an image-maker: to reflect on current realities and, rather than imposing a singular solution, present a spectrum of possibilities.

These residency programmes signalled an emerging trend for the coming years, where art from Pakistan may increasingly shift towards practices, projects and spaces that embrace parallel perspectives and diverse viewpoints.

The writer is an art critic, a curator and a professor at the School of Visual Arts and Design, Beaconhouse National University, Lahore