Tag: pakistan

Embracing the storyteller

You know what can be terrifying sometimes? Realizing that you have so many interests, passions and ambitions that you end up feeling totally unfocused. Four years ago I picked art and I have the consistency disease. I literally stick by what I choose through thick or thin. So while the fear was always there, so was art. I wouldn’t give it up, even in the moments where I felt I was a fake, pretending to be an artist. But you know what that did? That sole, blinders-on kind of focus made me exclude some of my other interests as important. …

TAABIR — Artists Collective

Outsider art. It’s an interesting term. Used to describe art produced by untrained people or people beyond the sphere of the art world. Personally, I think that the term should have been unnecessary and it is unfortunate that it isn’t so. Art shouldn’t be elitist; it shouldn’t require qualification or expertise to produce. If something is created with the intention of evoking, communicating and connecting, it should suffice as art no matter the expertise or background of the creator. I understand the other half of the debate too though. What about all the development of skill and hard work artists …

Art Sparked Hope

“I want to be a teacher,” she said. And in the neatness of her braid, the primness of her posture, the clarity of her speech, you could tell she wanted to be a teacher. Every child I met that day, had such hopes and aspirations for their future. They, who would probably leave this room and wander the streets till dusk, braving dangers I could never imagine, never having a home to return to because their parents needed to work every single minute of the day simply for them to survive. Children are so alive with hope, a stethoscope around …