Shahzia Sikander’s film Parallax is featured in the group exhibition, Miniature 2.0 at the Pera Art Museum, Istanbul, Turkey. On view now through January 17, 2021.
Focusing on contemporary approaches to miniature painting, this exhibition brings together the works of 14 artists from different countries including Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan. Contemporary miniature painting goes beyond its historical context in terms of form and content, focusing on issues such as colonialism, orientalism, economic inequality, gender, politics of identity, discrimination, social violence, compulsory migration, and representation. Miniature 2.0 emphasizes the participating artist’s diverse approaches to traditional miniature, as well as revealing the commonalities they share.
Parallax, 2013, is a monumental, multichannel installation composed of hundreds of handmade drawings and paintings used to create a digitally animated film. As her starting point, Sikander focused on the geostrategic position of the Strait of Hormuz. Concepts including ideas of conflict and control emerge as core themes of a perspective stretching from modern history to the Post-Colonial period. The animation simultaneously combines abstract, figurative, and textual elements, emphasizing the narrative complexity of the work. The original soundtrack, composed by Du Yun, includes six poems recited in Arabic and written specifically for the video, which address subjects ranging from the regional historic context to reflections on human nature.
Shahzia Sikander, Parallax, 2013, 3-channel HD digital animation, 5.1 Surround Sound, music by Du Yun.