LAHORE - The Lahore Biennale Foundation (LBF), a non-profit organisation seeking greater public engagement in the arts, held its first public event with the opening of Rashid Rana’s project ‘My East is Your West’ at Liberty Market on Tuesday.
‘My East is Your West’ Lahore/Venice project is a collaborative effort of Rashid Rana and the Lahore Biennale Foundation, which will stay open till October 2015. This project has been brought to the public with the support of HBL in its efforts to enable the arts in the country. Rashid Rana is one of Pakistan’s leading contemporary artists, a pioneer in Pakistani visual art, presenting the first large-scale public project of its kind in the country.
Rashid Rana’s works are featured in this year’s Venice Biennale, one of the most prestigious art events of the world. Part of these works in Venice features a room with a video projection of a live feed from a mirrored space in Liberty Market.
Audiences in Venice are able to see and interact with the public in Lahore. The artist’s room in Lahore, an exactly replicated space, similarly allows viewers to witness the Venice audience through another live feed. The project thus has broken barriers between these two populaces across the globe, through just a simple room.
Commenting on the event, Qudsia Rahim, Director of LBF, stated “The partnership between LBF and Rashid Rana fits neatly as we both seek to engage the public in art. We hope to initiate an alternative dialogue in the region and expand possibilities for artists, whilst also questioning the position of the arts in the public domain. LBF aims to project Pakistani art as a relevant force in the contemporary world, and to stimulate public interest in the arts. It serves to encourage imaginative discourse, aesthetic exploration in all forms, and to advance new and old Pakistani art, on a global as well as local stage. ”
LBF is providing support to Rana’s project from Pakistan, by offering a window into Venice for audiences in Lahore, and simultaneously a window into Lahore for audience in Venice. The organisation will be assisting with parallel programmes and launch in Lahore, corresponding with audiences in Venice.