The highlight of last year was definitely the Unit 1 result. As an artist, most of the time you work without validation. So much of the stuff you make or the stuff you do just drifts by. Even with collaborative events, though they connected so many people and touched so many lives, there is no tangible validation that accompanies them. And that’s okay. But I can’t deny, that it definitely felt good to get an A-. When I opened the unit 1 result I was greeted by a B, and then I scrolled down and found a whole lot of …

Here’s the really sad thing, I did not win any of the competitions I excitedly applied for (though I did get shortlisted for the Karachi Biennale Emerging Artists’ prize). Truth be told, this can be quite a bummer. I know, I know, there are so many factors that determine who will win. The judges, the piece itself, the idea behind it, how well it adapts to the needs of the contest. But ultimately, what you are really left feeling is: my art wasn’t good enough. And that is such a horrible, and debilitating feeling to be left with! So in …

A lot of stuff happened too quickly, too suddenly in the last couple of months. In December there were those two surgeries that left me feeling weaker, and changed me physically, which was discomforting. Later the same month we made a trip to Dubai and then onto Pakistan where I had to organize and execute three days of events over a course of two weeks. Then back to Jeddah for an exhibit and immediately off to New York, after which I had guests till the end of feb. And the moment my guests left, it was time to travel to …