Category: MA Visual Arts: Fine Art Digital Blog

The blog documenting my journey as I complete a Masters of Visual Arts from University of the Arts London, 2017-2019

Writing, Alf Kalimah and WonderQuest

Writing, Alf Kalimah and WonderQuest

Transformation is constant and pervasive. Everything I have seen, every experience I have been immersed in over the last two years has led me to conclude that the world around us is transforming just as much as we are. Pakistan, despite the best efforts of its people, is going downhill (thanks to things beyond the control of individuals). Jeddah with all its drawbacks and inanities of its ruling class, is undergoing a mini cultural revolution. At the end of 2017, I was like a person trying to take a step forward against the wind. And this MA helped me find …

Coming full circle

Coming full circle

I believe in the philosophy behind ‘strife is justice’. That each of us are continuously regenerated from moment to moment, that each moment is unique in this aspect. Things are built and torn down and built again, at an atomic level all the way to a cosmic level. And overcoming uncertainty, consistently moving forward, and rejoicing in this change is where we find stability. So here’s the interesting thing, when I started this MA I was in search of narrative art. I would look up definitions of narrative art and realize that my art did not really fit the traditional …

F Up Nights

Yes, its a quite literal and brutal name. But it was such a joy speaking at the F Up Night that was held at HummingTree (a co-working space for creatives in Jeddah). I felt honored to be invited. I felt excited to be sharing something so vulnerable as messing up. Because, especially once you’re engrossed in the social media world, you note that people talk alot about vulnerability but what they post and pose for is still perfection.   We have a self created stigma around failure. Failure is such an inescapable part of our lives and also such a …

Senses

On 8 January, Novotel Hotel Jeddah invited a couple of artists to present their work in a display titled ‘Senses’. It was in the hall right at the entrance of the hotel, so we were essentially greeting people with our art. It was really exciting, because a lot of interesting people were there, including consul generals from various consulates, media personnel, etc. Since the exhibit was all about experience, I decided to try out my first augmented reality exhibit here. I don’t think Jeddah has seen much of augmented reality yet because it created quite a stir! There was a …

Brainstorming about the final show

Brainstorming about the final show

This is going to be one of those incoherent posts filled with thoughts, thoughts, thoughts. Because, every now and then, you need one of those right? lol.  It’s like a blog version of a mind-map. This brainstorming has technically been going on for WEEKS. I wrote an email to Jonathan asking for clarification on some aspects, but we were on term break so I’m guessing everyone was on holiday. So I had to keep going, keep planning, since the final show is drawing nearer. So I ended up brainstorming all over my sketchbooks. Yup. All those beautiful pages are now filled …