Karachi Zoo
On May 16th, the third Numaish Karachi installation went to the Karachi Zoo’s Beaumont Lawns, a stunning tree-filled enclosure, built in 1906. Curator Saima Zaidi added several tree installations with the locally made paperworks such as parrots by the Hindu Vagari people who live near the zoo. The indigenous variation of the paper windmill and coloured globes festooned a few of the beautiful trees around the lawns.
Photography by Humayun Memon
Photography by Humayun Memon
Bird Forms
Tree installation
Artist: Seema Nusrat
Material: Dried palm leaves
There has been a sharp decline in the number of migratory birds visiting Pakistan and in Karachi this has been precipitated by tree-cutting and development. These bird forms, created with a basketry technique using dried palm leaves, serve as a reminder of how in urban settings and concrete environments we tend to forget how essential they are for landscapes.
Karachi Circular Railway
Video installation
Filmmaker: Ivan Sigal
Single-channel version KCR is an immersive film that traces the path of the defunct Karachi Circular Railway. The viewer embarks on a meditative journey through one of the world’s most complex and conflicted megacities, exploring its urban and human landscape through video, stills, text and drone footage.
Photography by Humayun Memon
Newton's Cradle
Designers & Manufacturers: Nadeem Afzal, Syed Fakhruddin
Materials: 3-inch diameter steel balls, metal frame, paint
Size: 36 inches long, 18 inches wide, 26 inches deep
This device is named after Sir Isaac Newton and demonstrates one of the most fundamental laws of physics and mechanics. A series of identical swinging spheres display the physical phenomena of conservation of momentum and energy. When you pull back and release one or more of the steel balls at the end, they swing back to impact an equal number of balls on the opposite side by the same distance. The lifted ball possesses kinetic energy, which upon collision is transferred to the stationary balls. The impact produces a shock wave that moves through the intermediate spheres. The resulting force travels through the line and pushes the other ball(s) upwards.
Photography by Mahim Maher
Danda Doli & Phugadi
Artist: Tehmina Maknojia
Danda Doli Materials: Iron pipe, fiber lamination, enamel paints
Sizes: 10×5 feet
Phugadi Materials: Iron pipe, bearing, iron sheet, enamel paints
Size: 6×9 feet
The Danda Doli and Phugadi ‘swings’ mimic two familiar physically playful interactions children grow up with in the subcontinent. In Danda Doli, grownups lie on their back, press their knees together and rock the child as s/he holds on. The Gujrati word Phugadi describes how two children grip each other’s wrists, cross forearms and swirl at a dizzying speed. These installations, the rockers and merry-go-round, replicate the kinetic energy and movement of these acts of play.