Fazal Rizvi's Multilingual Art Explores Colonial Legacies and Coastal Histories
Fazal Rizvi, a key figure in the Tentative Collective, creates art that delves into colonial history, environmental issues, and geopolitical narratives. His series, 'Coloured Fields' (2017–18), showcases multilingual writings in Urdu and English, focusing on the indigo trade and peasant revolts. In 'Rooms Afloat / Tairtay Kamray' (2018), he uses recorded sounds to share coastal stories from Karachi, shedding light on the lives of enslaved people and the India-Pakistan routes. This work was part of 'The Fleet,' curated by Aziz Sohail at the Gandhara Space in Lahore. Rizvi also took part in the Gujral Foundation's 'My East is Your West' during the 56th Venice Biennale, with support from the Lahore Biennale Foundation. Natasha Ginwala wrote the profile for ArtReview Asia's Summer 2019 issue.
Key facts
- Fazal Rizvi was a core member of the Tentative Collective.
- Rizvi's typewriter-drawing series 'Coloured Fields' was created between 2017 and 2018.
- 'Coloured Fields' includes multilingual texts in Urdu and English.
- One drawing in the series references indigo and peasant rebellion under colonial rule.
- 'Rooms Afloat / Tairtay Kamray' (2018) uses recorded sound to explore coastal stories from Karachi.
- The work 'Rooms Afloat' was part of the exhibition 'The Fleet' curated by Aziz Sohail at aan Gandhara Space in Lahore.
- Rizvi's work was included in the Gujral Foundation's 'My East is Your West' at the 56th Venice Biennale.
- The profile was written by Natasha Ginwala for ArtReview Asia's Summer 2019 issue.
Entities
Artists
- Fazal Rizvi
- Natasha Ginwala
- Aziz Sohail
- Zora Neale Hurston
Institutions
- Tentative Collective
- Gujral Foundation
- Lahore Biennale Foundation
- aan Gandhara Space
- Gropius Bau
- Gwangju Biennale
- Documenta 14
- Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart
- ifa-Galerie
- Contour Biennale 8
- ArtReview Asia
Locations
- Lahore
- Pakistan
- Ravi River
- India
- Venice
- Italy
- Karachi
- Arabian Sea
- Berlin
- Germany
- Stuttgart
- Gwangju
- South Korea