Fazal Rizvi's 'The Sherbet Project' Recreates Late Aunt's Recipe

Fazal Rizvi, an interdisciplinary artist based in Karachi, presents 'The Sherbet Project', a personal exploration centered on recreating a syrup drink his late maternal aunt Zareen used to make. The recipe involves mint, apple cider vinegar, sugar, and water. Rizvi's process goes beyond replicating the exact taste, texture, and smell of the original Sekanjabeen; it becomes a meditative act of remembering, reimagining, and honoring his aunt's life. The project examines overlooked domestic spaces—dust-filled crevices, chipped enamel paint, cabinets, and photographs—as sites of memory and desire. Rizvi describes it as a constellation of unfinished thoughts, a play, a walk, a mirror, a wish, a gift, an homage, a mourning, and a living monument to Zareen. His practice often engages the personal and familial, having previously explored the materiality of the sea and its borders. Rizvi is now beginning long-term research on glacial and mountainous terrain in northern Pakistan, where he plans to settle. He graduated from the National College of Arts, Lahore in 2010, and has held residencies at Arcus Studios (Japan, 2011), Gasworks Studios (London, 2014, via Charles Wallace Pakistan Trust award), Pro Helvetia New Delhi (Zurich, 2020), and Jan van Eyck Academie (Netherlands, 2020–21).