About Ali Kazim: Suspended in Time at the Ashmolean
This exhibition is informed by the time Ali Kazim, one of the most exciting artists working in Pakistan today, spent in the Ashmolean.
In 2019 Ali Kazim, one of the most exciting contemporary artists working in Pakistan today, became the first South Asian artist-in-residence at the Ashmolean Museum.
Drawing inspiration from examining several objects in the Eastern Art collections, and their contextual history, up close, he saw his time in the Museum as an opportunity to reimagine them in his own work and practise.
Kazim’s engagement with the material and visual traditions – for example, how a small clay sculpture or a fingerprint can connect us, directly and viscerally, to the people who originally made and used them – encourages us, in turn, to reflect on how the past informs and influences the present.
The exhibition is curated by Dr Mallica Kumbera Landrus, Keeper of the Department of Eastern Art and Senior Curator of Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art, in collaboration with the artist.
The exhibition will feature Ashmolean objects alongside paintings, sculptures and installations by Kazim. It coincides with the 75th anniversary of Pakistan’s creation and is accompanied by a catalogue supported by the Elie Khouri Art Foundation.