Ariba Akhlaque | Museum of Blue

Artist Statement

This project is about the water crises in Karachi. It focuses on three main components of this multifaceted issue. the commercialisation of water (RO Plants), the management of systems already in place for the distribution of this resource and the private water tanker Industry.

I’m indebted to the Research Team at Orangi Pilot Project (OPP) who have provided maps, data and essential guidance for me to produce a body of work in response to the systematic negligence of this issue. Some facts being common knowledge in Karachi were interesting to me as they show one’s will to control and commercialize the very essence of life.

During the duration of this project, I have discovered new meanings of water. These meanings cannot be separated from the politics that revolve around it, the market that restricts it, creates demand for it and the people that are deprived of it. I believe the best I can do is create processes that work as a catalyst for solution while addressing this through the vocabulary of this work.

Jawad was born in 1994, Islamabad. Jawad Hussain is an interdisciplinary artist, writer and filmmaker based in Lahore. He graduated with honors from Beaconhouse National University in Visual Arts and is currently enrolled in Masters of Art and Design at Beaconhouse= National University. Through his work he explores themes of identity, language, and time. Jawad works in mediums such as photography, paint, performance and video, and has had the opportunity to exhibit his work in several group shows within Pakistan and internationally, some of them include: CROSSCUT (1): CONSUMERISM AND ETHICS LUMS & Gurmani Center of Literature and Languages (2018). Partition and the Practice of Memory Reach Gallery Museum in Abbotsford, BC, Canada (2020). MANIFEST–Museum of scroll (2021). NEOWAVE- Kaleido Kontemporary (2024). Hussain has also worked both in collaboration and independently as a documentary filmmaker.