Ta’alluq: An Evening of Urdu Poetry Curated with Music & Performance
Karachi, the city of lights, never ceases to amaze! Complex, multilayered, diverse, and challenging, it shares stories of hope, resilience and the intense spectrum of love and hate. Creatives continuously surprise us with their unique ways of connecting and forming “ta’alluq” with the city.
Imran Nafees Siddiqui and Sameeta Ahmed unite such creative voices in a captivating evening of Urdu poetry, infused with intense emotion, pain and joy. Their fresh expressions are harmonized with the allure of sound art, video art, music, and performance, offering a rich, immersive experience.
About Imran Mushter Nafees:
Imran Nafees Siddiqui is a visual and performing artist who passionately believes in the power of art as a catalyst for social and political change. His work is rooted in disrupting the status quo and questioning power structures, turning his vulnerability and sensitivity into a unique epistemological stance. This approach results in the creation of complex, multilayered artistic knowledge that leads to meaningful dialogue.
Imran has pioneered platforms for expression, channeling the talent and voices of many, including women, children, and marginalized communities. He currently heads the Institute of Performing Arts and is the founder of Dugdugi, an artist collective. He is also a key member of the resistance-based creative group ‘Laal Hartaal’ and works as a gender trainer, researcher, writer and creative consultant.
About Sameeta Ahmed:
Sameeta Ahmed, born and raised in Karachi, is a formally trained artist and architect with a Fine Art degree from Brandeis University and a Master’s in Architecture from the University of Texas at Austin. She has balanced careers in fine art, architecture, and academia, while also working on historic conservation of cultural heritage sites.
Her artwork, which blends traditional calligraphy with expressionism, has been showcased in solo exhibitions in Lahore and Islamabad, as well as prominent exhibits like “The Rising Tide” at Mohatta Palace Museum. Currently Artist-in-Residence at Kainaat Studios in Amherst, Massachusetts, she continues to push the boundaries of art by integrating Sufi philosophy and postmodern aesthetics in her multidisciplinary work. Sameeta is also the founder of EarthWaterNetwork, an initiative merging art with climate activism and Dugdugi.
This session is free and open to all. Just visit the venue to attend it.
The Black Hole
Plot 5H, Street 100, G-11/3, Islamabad.
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