The KBT-OPP Artists Residency was established as a biannual residency in 2018 in partnership with Orangi Pilot Project. The residency aims to bridge the disconnect between contemporary art discourses and the nuanced geopolitics that surrounds them. It provides an opportunity to artists to work and experience Orangi Township. This working class settlement has been studied by global development and human rights researchers for its self reliance projects by Dr. Akhtar Hameed Khan and later the mapping for empowerment initiative of Perween Rehman, that led to her murder. This settlement on the periphery of Karachi houses a large ethnically diverse population, skilled artisans and dynamic entrepreneurs that makes it a place of possibilities.Four artists, Abid Aslam, Ahsan Javaid, Hasnain Ali and Muneeb Aaqib were invited to live at OPP for a month. Their focus was map-making and artists learnt skills from expert map makers . They also became familiar with the vision of Perween Rehman who used mapping as a tool to empower communities. The art created during the Residency was shown at an Open-House at the Orangi Pilot Project office . It was also briefly displayed at the Alliance Francaise Gallery. The first two iterations of the KBT-OPP Residency will be curated by Muhammad Zeeshan. |
