Projects
New perspectives, newer possibilities
By Gemma Sharpe
April 16, 2012
Flags over Sea View; whistles at Karachi’s Khadda Market; voices in the peepul tree; and bodily revulsions projected onto the walls of eating places. The culmination of Vasl’s third International Artists’ Workshop 2012 took place around Karachi, with performances and sound works arranged across streets, and video installations installed in galleries and public spaces around the city.
Focusing on performance, sound and moving images, the Vasl Artists’ Collective invited 10 artists to attend this year’s international workshop through an open call. Taking place between February 23 and March 11, the workshop ended in an ‘open weekend’ that gave the artists an opportunity to display the output of their interactions withKarachiand with one another.
Unlike typical residency programmes, the Vasl workshop engenders a particular intensity by involving an almost unmanageable number of artists working together over a limited period of time. The resulting environment inspires a flurry of exchange, research and collaborative activity.
The coordinators of Vasl felt that unlike the two earlier workshops – held in Gadani in 2001 (Vasl’s first ever project), and then in 2006 – this year’s workshop could become more of a contribution to the local art scene and the people of Karachi as it was to take place in the urban territory. Exploring uncommon and unexposed forms of artistic practice, artists participating in the workshop did not make paintings or sculptures, but worked on films, audio pieces, performances and installations.
Read more about the Vasl International Artists’ Workshop 2012: Performance, Moving Image and Sound on the Vasl website.
