I was part of the 'MEET THE ARTIST' event at Discover Bucks Museum in Aylesbury, which was a supporting event of their Open Art Exhibition, which had my work on display. The exhibition opened on the 29th of April 2023 and was on till the 9th of July 2023. The artists at the event talked about their work and their inspiration. It was a great opportunity for the artists to meet the visitors of the exhibition as well as other artists from the area and talk about their inspirations and aspirations.
I gave a visual overview of the truck art in Pakistan (commonly referred to as truck art but that includes buses, rickshaws and carts etc) and talked about some of the common themes and ideas found in truck art. The vast majority of Pakistan’s trucks, buses and rickshaws are a palette of bright colour from top to bottom with various pictures, from landscapes, portraits, and calligraphic poetry to religious verses. The visuals and decorations found on the trucks, display not just the aesthetic considerations, but they are an attempt to depict the political, cultural, social and racial views and beliefs of the individuals employed in the truck industry. It shows that truck art represents the identity of the individuals involved in the process and how they identify with the world.
An informal poetry reading to celebrate World Poetry Day (21st March) was organized at Westbury Arts Centre, as part of MKLit Fest. Invited participants, who had a language other than English as their first language, were bilingual, or had strong connections with regions of the British Isles where another language or dialect is commonly used, shared their poetries from their chosen language / dialect. I had the opportunity to recite Allama Iqbal's poetry in Urdu which I learnt as a child in school. There will be an exhibition following this event as part of MKLit Fest at Milton Keynes Central Library in April 2023