Islamabad: Jamal Shah's 'Situation 101' attracts visitors at PNCA
Situation 101 is a contemporary creative installation by Shah, featuring 101 sculptures with a 25 feet high cage. Photo: PNCA Facebook
(APP) – Creative Art Work ‘Situation 101’ by Director General Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) is attracting a large number of visitors.
After the successful projection at KB 17 Karachi, Situation 101 is now displayed in Islamabad at PNCA. ‘Situation 101’, a contemporary creative installation by Jamal Shah, remained centre of attraction with 101 sculptures in a very oddly humble situation and with a 25 feet high cage. The installation is a bold reflection of the entire nation being fooled by those holding influential positions.
Jamal Shah has created a 25-foot metallic cage with wings surrounded by a number of life-size human figures cast in various materials.
The installation also includes large LED screens for video projection of performances, a poetry recital by renowned media personalities/actors, dance by Amna Mawaz and the NPAG group of PNCA, music by Sain Khawar and Ustad Hamid Shahid and Faqirs from Sindh, as well as live painting and graffiti during the dance performances.
The work invites a cross-disciplinary interactivity and engages other important artists from different disciplines including students and art enthusiasts in performances that will simultaneously be video recorded and projected.
Syed Jamal Shah is an artist, writer, filmmaker, educationist and social worker.
“Situation101 is a major art project specially executed for Karachi Biennale 2017 and now brought to Islamabad with the thematic area witness in mind. The work is a playful comment on the dichotomy of freedom, un-freedom Inviting interactivity, questions and interpretations,” Shah says about the installation.
“At one level it is about subjugation, submission and dehumanisation, on other it reflects hope, dreams and the human struggle for liberation and situations in life that might have encouraged human beings to engage with life intimately in a creative and critical manner thereby, triggering evolution and change.”
“Situation 101 as an art activity also questions the essence of art as a vehicle for change and aesthetic decision-making. It is as much about the function of art as it is about the art object which is why it presents itself to be a non-museum work that seeks spontaneous interaction with people.”
