Faculty of Art

Sculpture/Installation

Zenab Kazmi

شہباز Shahbaz (The Falcon)

Second of a three-part series titled "Rumuuz e Ishq (Mysteries of Love)."Hand-sewn and hand-embroidered textile installation.

“Shahbaz (The Falcon) is a part of Rumuuz e Ishq (Mysteries of Love), which includes three hand-sewn, 5x3 ft textile installations titled Suhagan (The Bride), Shahbaz (The Falcon), and Lal (Red). The work is suspended from the ceiling in a landscape orientation, away from the walls, so that the form appears to float. This arrangement allows viewers to encounter the piece from multiple perspectives rather than being directed toward a single vantage point.I layer Pakistani traditional ajrak (hand-block-printed textile) and other patterned textiles over a suede-like fabric base. On one side of the installation are soft-sculpted figures without gendered bodies, along with hand-embroidered poetry by Lal Shahbaz Qalandar (a prominent Sufi saint of Pakistan) in Farsi. On the other side, “شہباز” (Shahbaz) is written in Urdu over a patterned textile.If my work stirs the Malang within you, however quietly, let it do so without inhibitions. Pause if it feels right. Hold what lingers and allow the rest to drift toward meaning in its own time.Poetry by Lal Shahbaz Qalandar:در عقل نگنجیم کہ آں نور خدائیمدر فہم نہ آئیم کہ بے نام و نشانیمDar aql nagonjim kea an noor e KhodayimDar fahm na ayim ke be naam o neshanimWe cannot be contained by the intellect, for we are that Divine LightWe cannot be grasped by understanding, for we are nameless and traceless”