Third Karachi Biennale KB22

The Educational Programming – art and tech workshops – commenced in October 2021 at primary and secondary schools. The workshops were designed to introduce the theme of the third Karachi Biennale, Art and Technology through hands-on projects. During the school tour of KB22, this experience helped the students to engage with the exhibits.

Over 500 primary students from diverse backgrounds participated in the STEAM inspired activities and created art with battery driven bots. The Educational Programming Workshops and tours for primary schools were generously supported by National Foods Pvt Limited.

‘Boltay Pathar’ workshops were held at four secondary schools between January and March 2022, to engage students in research on heritage sites and learn to create digital documentaries on them for their peers. 120 students enthusiastically participated from the following schools and documented the mentioned sites:

1.Kiran Foundation DCTO Campus Lyari worked on Empress Market.
2.Habib Public Boys School worked on Bagh Ibn-e-Qasim (near Clifton Beach).
3.NJV Government Higher Secondary School worked on the historical building of NJV School.
4.Khatoon-e-Pakistan worked on Quaid-e-Azam House Museum (Flagstaff House).

The workshops in Secondary Schools were supported by UNESCO and Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS).

The KB22 Curtain Raiser was held to introduce Faisal Anwar, the curator of KB22 and its theme in November 2021. The reception was jointly hosted by Karachi Biennale Trust and the Consul General of Germany in Karachi. On the occasion, the visitors experienced the hybrid works of Jahanzeb Khawaja and Dennis Rudolph. During the evening Faisal Anwar spoke at length about the theme of KB22 ‘Collective Imagination, Now and the Next’ to the guests and media, this was followed by a panel discussion with artists on Karachi Biennale as a space for opportunity and as an incubator of ideas for artists and the audience.

Between December 2021 and March 2022, a series of workshops were conducted by hybrid artists.

Dennis Rudolph, a conceptual artist from Germany and Herwig Scherabon from Austria shared their practice and skills with students from Visual Studies Dept, Karachi University, Karachi School of Art, Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture and NED University for Engineering and Technology.

The participation of these artists in KB22 was supported by the Consul General for Germany and the Embassy of Austria respectively.

Between April and June 2022, KBT organized ‘Artist Talks’ based on the integration of art and technology in their practice for a diverse audience.

April 20, 2022: UK based artist Ben Eaton of the Invisible Flock (an Artist Collective) shared his sensory projects and the techniques and tools he is exploring at British Council Library. His participation in KB22 was supported by the Festivals and Seasons Program at the British Council

May 20, 2022: London based Shezad Dawood spoke extensively on his hybrid practice that bridges memory, experience and ecological concerns in a webinar. His participation was supported by the Festivals and Seasons Program at the British Council.

May 21, 2022: Spanish artist Soliman Lopez shared his conceptual projects that explore technology for interactive experiences for the audience in a webinar. His participation in KB22 was supported by the Embassy of Spain.

Besides this, on May 12, 2022, Niilofur Farrukh, the Managing Trustee at Karachi Biennale Trust gave a talk on the transformative power of public art at the Aga Khan University.

KBT with its partner Children’s Learning Festival, initiated the Chaman, Plastic with Responsibility Project. This project is based on recycling domestic plastic waste into flowers and foliage with the aim to build a small chaman (garden) in schools. Fauzia Minallah, a well-known artist with an environmentally conscious practice, imparted skills of working with diverse plastics and shaping them into flowers in workshops. The first workshop was held at NJV School with the participation of students and faculty from NJV Schools, Kiran Foundation and St. Joseph’s Schools. Since 2017, KB has been making efforts to support ecological concerns and Chaman, Plastic with Responsibility Project, is a part of that long-term commitment.

On March 11, 2022 artists and KB Team members shared their personal and professional narratives at the storytelling platform of ‘The Crows’. The moving stories inspired the audience, making them laugh and reflect on the journey of an artist.

The Friends of KB22 was launched in a small informal reception at the residence of KB Patron, Ronak Lakhani, on March 4, 2022. At this well-attended launch, individuals were invited to become members of this exclusive, culturally engaged group.