LB04

Open call for poets: Conference of the Stray Birds invites contributions from across Eurasia

Conference of the Stray Birds will present its inaugural collection of poems at Lahore Biennale 04: The Shape of Coexistence, taking place in spring 2027. The collection reflects on the legacies and possible afterlives of twentieth-century internationalism across Eurasia. Of particular importance to us are the internationalist writers’ conferences that took place across Soviet Central Eurasia in the post–World War II period. At these gatherings, writers and poets from different countries came together to share ... More

Programs

Project | Rejuvenation of JPMC Waiting Area, Karachi

LBF seeks to encourage creative, community-centric approaches to public interventions; the design of an outdoor waiting area at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) by artists Naima Dadabhoy and Roohi Ahmed makes manifest one of the many aims of the foundation.A collaboration between the Lahore Biennale Foundation (LBF) and the Patients’ Aid Foundation (PAF), Karachi, Innovations in Public Space was the first ever project implemented by the foundation in the city of Karachi.

Public Outreach

artSPEAK | Public Engagement through Art

The Lahore-based Awami Art Collective, a group of cultural practitioners, were invited to speak about their aim of bringing art to public spaces and why they considered such interventions to be of importance. Their ethos of celebrating diversity and enabling peaceful co-existence in a pluralist society particularly aligns them with the Lahore Biennale Foundation’s (LBF) own mission. The conversation covered the history of the collective as well as their recent projects and concerns, in order to reflect upon the context in which art can meaningfully engage with public space. The event was held at The Last Word on August 10, ... More

Research

LBF Research Fellowship: Building A National Film Archive

Announced in Summer 2018, the Lahore Biennale Foundation Research Fellowship was open to any individual or collective interested in researching any aspect of modern or contemporary art and visual culture of Pakistan. Award selection was based on the clear identification of the research methodology and archives used, and the relevance of the topic in contributing new knowledge and insight. A public announcement of the award resulted in many submitted applications. The final selection was made by an independent jury. Artist Hira Nabi was the recipient. The total amount awarded for the 2018 cycle was Rs. 300,000. The distinguished mentor for this ... More

Programs

Zero Waste Initiative

The Lahore Biennale Foundation (LBF) is committed to fostering sustainable practices through its Zero Waste Initiative, aimed at reducing the environmental footprint of our projects and daily operations. As part of this commitment, we have implemented a comprehensive waste management system that emphasizes recycling, repurposing, and responsible disposal methods.

Programs

Residency | Theertha Performing Arts Seminar

The Theertha Artists Collective, with support from the Lahore Biennale Foundation (LBF), invited two artists from Pakistan to participate in the international performing platform Borderlines in Colombo. Borderlines saw multiple performances in Borella, on March 16, 2015, as a result of a weeklong residency. Participating performance artists were encouraged to work within the theme of Borders and lines: the temporality of landscape.

Public Outreach

LB02 Youth Forum

The Youth Forum initiative of the Lahore Biennale Foundation (LBF) actively engages with younger audiences that include in-school and out-of-school children, through public and private sector schools from across Lahore. The Youth Forum is a free educational resource and community building program that aims for inclusion beyond socio-economic boundaries. For this, LBF works with different institutional partners. The objectives of Youth Forum are to encourage creativity and develop critical thinking skills, as students experience art beyond their screens and textbooks. Students interact with maps, architecture, and exhibition design, and develop experiential and imaginative learning. 

Research

LBF – AAN Research Grant – 2018

Announced in Summer 2018, the LBF – Research Grant was intended for an individual or collective whose research focuses on movements and shifts in modern and contemporary art practice in Pakistan or its diaspora. Therefore, this call invited research proposals that address arts that arise from or are significant to Pakistan.

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Publications

The Viewing, The Viewer and The Viewed

A publication outlining a component of My East is Your West – an installation by Rashid Rana, entitled Shuhuud-o-shaahid-o-mashhuud (The Viewing, The Viewer and The Viewed). This project was a multi-site video installation with a live camera that created two simultaneous mirrored spaces, connecting audiences in Venice, Italy with audiences in Liberty Market Horse Shoe, Lahore via a live feed. In doing so, it blurred the lines between the East and West, and between the audience and art. The audience was as much a part of the artwork as they were witness to it. The room built in Liberty Market, ... More

Publications

Lahore Biennale Reader 02

Between Jan 26 and Feb 29, 2020, the Lahore Biennale 02 was exhibited at multiple sites across Lahore, Pakistan. Hoor Al Qasimi curated the work of over eighty artists and collectives under the theme of Between The Sun And The Moon, emphasizing participation from the Global South and with a stress on artists and works from Africa, Central Asia, West Asia and their diasporas. The multifaceted Biennale program included exhibited works, performances, participatory settings, publications ... More