Khadim Ali | Amal Lin | Sujay Sanan | Zafar Ali | Olga Lobanova | Laila Tara H | Samantha Buckley | Mobeen Akhtar | Elham Pourkhani| Murat Palta | Mahsa Tehrani | Riyaz Uddin |  Zeynep Akman | Nusra Latif Qureshi | Fatima Zahra Hassan | Ayesha Amjad| Ramsha Haider Agha

 

The world around us is imbued with lores, like the gentle imprints of songs and the quiet murmur of tales passed down through time. These narratives weave themselves into our earliest remembrances, carried and cherished through generations until they become a part of who we are. With each retelling they grow richer until they form the very fabric of our lives, connecting us to a continuous human experience.

 

Folklore, in its essence, is the enduring heartbeat of our traditions, a nurturing pulse that keeps culture alive and fertile, allowing ancient allegories to take its root and journey through time across many lands. From the profound parables of the Panchatantra to the deep wisdom of Kalila wa Dimna, from the soulful verses of Bulleh Shah to the lyrical poetry of Rumi, these tales have graced centuries, tenderly carrying within them messages of love, wonder, moral reflection, and the quiet resilience of communities.

 

In spirit, this exhibition borrows the cadence of many voices and verses, where each artist's unique story carries its own lore yet gracefully flows into a shared current. ​’Masnavi’ itself evokes a classical Persian poetic form: long, unfolding poems written in couplets, gently carrying allegories of love, profound morality, and spiritual mysticism.​ In this shared current, much like the whispers of the wind, the soft movement of clouds, or the steady flow of a river, folklore flows through each of us, tenderly guiding the ways we remember, how we question, and how we ultimately make meaning of the world we inhabit. 

 

The works gathered here are a heartfelt invitation to pause and reflect on how these cherished lores, once spoken or carefully inscribed in ancient manuscripts, continue to tenderly illuminate our present moments. It is with this deep sentiment that ‘Masnavi’ unites artists from India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Taiwan, Australia, and the UK, each thoughtfully exploring the personal stories they carry within them.

 

 In its attempt, the exhibition also turns its gaze to the present, looking at folklore as an evolving tradition and how the socio-political narratives and experiences of today will eventually shape the lores of tomorrow. To that, musawwari (miniature) painting serves as the exquisite ground for this encounter, a revered tradition where oral tales and written narratives historically found their form. 

 

In a world that is becoming fragmented, ‘Masnavi’ gently gathers these visual narratives as a constellation of profound connections, softly reminding us of the enduring, binding power of stories to beautifully unite generations, cultures, and communities.

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