The Veils of Our Soul a solo show displaying works by Masuma Halai Khwaja which opened at the Canvas Gallery Karachi on the 30th of August was attended by a large number of artists, art aficionados and art students.
Textiles and fabrics have always been a part of Masuma’s artistic trajectory, whether it be replicating the folds of a long fabric wrapped around the human form, embroidering on digitally printed canvases or creating intricate collages by cutting up embroidered textiles and reconstituting the pieces to form new imagery.
In her 5th solo show, Masuma Halai Khwaja investigates the socio-political context of garments, examining historical and present day controversies surrounding different forms of clothing. According to Masuma fabrics and garments have the potentiality to be structured in a myriad different ways and possess the ability to narrate events in culturally relevant contexts.
Showcasing cutting edge art, the Canvas Gallery owned and managed by renowned gallerist Sameera Raja, is one of the most prestigious art galleries of Pakistan. The artworks on display were executed in a variety of mediums, from colour pencils and graphite to oil paintings and kaantha embroidery. Masuma references regional historical events by embroidering on the insides of sari blouses. Text and motifs layered over imagery explore the role of garments as tools to espouse religiosity and at times create strife. The artist feels that though sometimes apportioned geopolitically, embroideries and garments in fact traverse man made boundaries seamlessly connecting histories lore and traditions.
A graduate of the National College of Arts Lahore, Masuma has displayed her work in many biennales art fairs and group shows in Pakistan and abroad. She has exhibited her work at the 9th, 10th and 11th editions of the Fibre Art Biennale ‘From Lausanne To Beijing’, The First Art Embroidery Biennial in Chaozhou and The Dafen Art Biennale in Shenzhen.
She has won many awards, the most recent being The Excellence Award at the 11th Fiber Art Biennale in China in 2020.
The show remains open daily until Thursday, 8th September 2022, between 11am and 6pm (excluding Sunday).
