Lala Rukh: In the Round, the first major international survey of work by Lala Rukh, reflects on three decades of the late artist and activist’s work in drawing, printmaking and video, produced against the backdrop of political turmoil and feminist movements in Pakistan. Her poetic compositions depict horizons, lunar movements, bodies of water, coastlines and archaeological sites, capturing a gradient of rhythms through her pared-down vocabulary of lines, ciphers and blackness.
The exhibition features rarely seen works from the early years of her practice, alongside original posters, publications and interviews with her collaborators during the time she was championing gender justice and civic rights. In addition to key archival material, In The Round brings together works from the Sharjah Art Foundation Collection as well as lesser-known series from Sigiriya, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan’s Gadani shoreline. Her final work, Rupak (2016), which represents a seamless intertwining of mark making, musicality and silence, is also exhibited for the first time in the region.
In the Round is curated by Hoor Al Qasimi, Director of Sharjah Art Foundation, and Natasha Ginwala, co-curator of Sharjah Biennial 16 and Artistic Director of COLOMBOSCOPE.
Press release from Sharjah Art Foundation
Image: Lala Rukh. Installation view of In the Round at Sharjah Art Foundation, 2024. Image courtesy of Sharjah Art Foundation
