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

City in Context

A four-day symposium of talks, workshops, think tanks, performances and exhibitions. 1 – 4 December 2016 City in Context is a collaborative venture that brings forth three key projects: Urbanities – Art and Public Space in Pakistan by the Goethe-Institut Pakistan and Lahore Biennale Foundation (LBF), and Stories We Tell (Aao Sunayein Kahani) by the Beaconhouse National University – School of Visual Arts and Design (BNU-SVAD), the Centre for Culture and Development (CKU) and the Lahore Biennale Foundation. It also introduces the inaugural Lahore Biennale 01 through the first-ever public introductory session in Pakistan.

Public Outreach

Dekho Lahore

Launched in 2015, the web-based collaboration between the Lahore Biennale Foundation and the public, #DekhoLahore, was planned as a visual investigation of LBF’s home base. Creative individuals were encouraged to photograph the city’s many facets on a weekly basis, and the selected images were shared on our social media outlets regularly.

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

Kabootar Awaay Jawaay

A comprehensive glimpse into the enduring cultural practice spanning Punjab and the Emirates, allowing the reader to delve into the meticulous preparations undertaken by breeders as they select and prepare their pigeons for competitive matches, giving insights into the hierarchical structure of practitioners, from masters (ustads) to students (shagerds), showcasing the dedication and years of practice required to attain senior positions.

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

LBF Virtual Museum | 75 Years of Cultural Histories of Pakistan

The LBF Virtual Museum is a platform that investigates the cultural heritage of Pakistan and the legacies of creative practice that have emerged from it, with ‘place’ being a significant contextual frame. The museum will produce knowledge that will be rooted in the local domain and function as an online repository of data and research generated by itself and the project at large.

Public Outreach

Community Meetings

The objective of these meetings is to engage the art community, or public communities, in a conversation that enables them and the Lahore Biennale Foundation (LBF) to critically reflect upon their practices and related concerns. The LBF is cognizant of the fact that it cannot function in a vacuum and relies on the community to ascertain areas of need, so it may deliver accordingly in the most effective manner possible. Opportunities for such discussions are few and far apart in the artistic spaces at present; to counter that, the focus is on encouraging their frequency and enabling productive dialogue.

Publications

Hustle Culture

Stolon Press’s Hustle Culture is a record made of the daily life around three bird baths placed under a chaste tree and a tamarind tree, in a small garden, in a small town in Malaysia. The visitors to the baths vary—sunbirds, fantails, swallows, an occasional tailorbird, maybe even a kingfisher or oriole, a toad, as well the neighborhood’s fat cat. The baths are washed and refilled regularly, sometimes there are no visitors at all, save for a floating feather; the camera is too slow or too fast, too impatient, or badly positioned. Instead of a story or plot, there is rhythm, fluttering, ... 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