The Falcon of Karachi
This creature is found in the Foreign Countries of the South, but in Hindustan, it is found in abundance. It is caught a lot in Punjab too, and in the district of Bathinda, where there is the area of Malwa, it is in abundance. Common people catch this Laggar. Translated from Indian Birds, Hindustani, Manuscript, 1778, British Museum Collection
Through various mediums, Caldana attempts to trace the elusive identity of a singular falcon called the Laggar falcon, an endemic species in Pakistan, India, and Myanmar, which is slowly disappearing in the wild and has become a near-threatened species. Often overlooked and seldom appearing in historical narratives and depictions, the Laggar has a reputation of being a minor falcon, an underdog, lacking the qualities of being a memorable or spectacular falcon, as well as the dramatic presence and performance of other falcons within the same family, like the Peregrine.
Largely missing from the collective memory and imagination, the Laggar is becoming increasingly more popular in the moment of its looming disappearance, in connection with an international community of falconers and their endeavours in raising awareness and counteracting the threat of the falcon vanishing from the wild.
The Falcon of Karachi presents a series of counter-narratives and counter-images attempting to shift a commonplace portrait – that of being seen as a minor falcon into that of a being recognised as a valuable member of the falcon family – by focusing on the falcon right to life, regardless of its reputation and apparent usefulness to humans. Starting from the potential aesthetic possibilities of a falcon known as just a brown falcon, the project traces an impression of a Laggar while observing the human–animal relationships that emerge from the concrete actions of caretakers at the service of wildlife preservation.
The project inscribes itself in a series of works exploring the relationship between wildlife and domesticity. It investigates the role of culturally produced wildlife and attempts to define a language to describe the paradoxical cultural processes behind developing wilderness within captivity.
The Falcon of Karachi series was produced in various locations and through numerous collaborations, including during a residency at Vasl Artists’ Association, Karachi, Pakistan; at the Fonderia Artistica Battaglia in Milan, Italy; and the TextielLab in Tilburg, the Netherlands. A musical postcard, playable within the exhibition, will contain a special edition of the film soundtrack made in collaboration with Luisa Puterman and Zeerak Ahmed (Slowspin). The entire series of works will enter the permanent collection of the MACTE Museum of Contemporary Art in Termoli as part of the Italian Council XII award.
The project is supported by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture under the Italian Council program (12th edition, 2023), which aims to promote Italian contemporary art worldwide.
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