Rizq | Risk
Curatorial Vision
Rizq | Risk, the title of the fourth edition of the Karachi Biennale 2024 represents a perpetual paradox, it aims to spark the critical conversations about intricate relationships between food security, environmental sustainability, social justice, and cultural heritage.
Through a diverse range of artistic practices and perspectives, the vision of KB24 will provide the audience with a chance to delve into the complex web of factors that are influencing the global food systems, from the impact of colonialism and globalization to the effects of climate change and consequences of carbon emissions.
The theme of food security will provide a platform for under represented voices and perspectives. It will showcase innovative solutions and alternatives to the current food systems. A celebration of food heritage, memory archives, and oral histories will underline its contemporary relevance as artists uncover the lost narratives of food cultures across the world.
The impact of the Green Revolution and neo-Oriental practices connected to global food systems, issues of land ownership, gender, and social justice in the context of food security are part of the wider ground that the theme covers.
Also highlighted is the crucial role of waterways in sustaining crops and communities, and the struggles and triumphs of communities dependent on food production for their livelihood. This includes natural disasters and their effects on food systems and, the impact of carbon emissions on food production, its distribution, and consumption.
The celebration of the pleasures of food and the importance of preserving culinary traditions go hand in hand with the consequences of globalization on local food cultures and the pressure it puts on the ecosystems.
The theme Rizq/ Risk aims to not only raise awareness among local and international art enthusiasts but to also sensitize public audiences walking through the exhibitions; where artists take on the role of social rights activists, environmentalists, and sustainability advocates.