The ALIVE exhibition at Ocean Art Gallery in Lahore recently concluded a ten-day run, leaving visitors to reconsider how art interprets the human capacity to endure. Curated by Tania Sohail, the show brought together various artists to document the intersection of personal memory and the quiet strength required to navigate daily existence.
Abdul Mannan provided a stark look at tension through his pieces Karwat and Qadam. In Karwat, the artist focuses on physical gestures like clenched hands to illustrate internal conflict. In Qadam, he uses the image of bound feet covered in delicate fabric to critique the limitations placed on individuals during life transitions. His work suggests that progress often involves a significant degree of restriction.
Other contributors moved into landscape and domestic symbolism. Aqsa Shahir utilized a soft palette to reflect on serenity and memory, while Besmah Aman turned household objects into metaphors for trauma. In her piece Fractured, a broken stool serves as a stand-in for the collapse of personal security, highlighting how domestic environments can mirror emotional instability.
Zainab Awan introduced a unique focus on the items we associate with rest. Her series, Burden of Comfort, reframes the common pillow as a container for anxiety and grief rather than a tool for relaxation. By replacing a human figure with a stack of pillows, she invites the audience to weigh the cost of accumulated memory and identity loss.
The exhibition closed with Danyal Awan’s explorations of anticipation. Using a dominant red palette, his paintings of people in states of waiting emphasize the instability of time. By capturing figures caught between hope and uncertainty, the works demand that viewers acknowledge the impermanence of the human experience. While ALIVE has concluded its run at the Ocean Art Gallery, it serves as a record of how contemporary artists in Lahore are mapping the emotional landscapes that dictate our sense of self.