ARTCHOWK

Zahoor Ul Akhlaq, Untitled, 1991, Acrylic on Canvas, 91.5×134.5cm, Courtesy of Artchowk

ArtChowk is an arts organisation based in Karachi, Pakistan. By presenting visual art through curatorial projects and exhibitions, ArtChowk emphasises artistic practices from the East and Near East. The gallery runs an inquisitive programme consisting of mostly modern and contemporary art, which seeks to present a fresh perspective on art historical narratives. Ultimately, ArtChowk’s goal in every project is to initiate a dialogue either by introducing a new idea or a new angle on an existing discussion.

“Art is a state of being not becoming.” -Shahid Sajjad.

Shahid Sajjad (1936-2014) was a deeply philosophical artist for whom observing and recording the present was paramount. He spearheaded the group of artists that forms the historical modernist basis from which contemporary Pakistani artists inform their practices. A self-taught artist who became a Fellow of the NCA and founding member of IVSAA, the study of his practice and its underlying thought process informs the curricula of both these institutions. Executing his works himself, he imbued in them a compressed energy that was critically acclaimed, loved by his peers and revered by subsequent generations of artists.