Visual Culture In Karachi City
Karachi, a city of millions of people inhabiting it. A city so diverse that various western researchers and scholars believe that if at any point Karachi's various ethnic, religious and partisan gatherings figure out a workable political consensus and socioeconomic census, Karachi can turn into an 'Asian New York'. However this paper talks about art and visuality in Karachi and will mainly focus on a few kinds of motifs its symbolic representation, context and history to the present art and culture. Motifs and patterns represent the identity and geography of its creator historically. For instance, in country domains, the ajrak outline, the Swati theme and phulkari spread or the Kashmirikairi assortments are still pictures of provincial character in spite of theway that in urban centers their genuine developments have changed. Bilgrami states that designs and colors of a motif are usually determined by what wasavailable in the specific area. “Colours were dictated by the natural vegetation which grew in that area and the patterning [embroidered, woven orprinted] remained exclusive to that region. These became the identity and anintrinsic part of the existence of the people [from] that particular region.” We see huge motifs on everyday basis incorporated so deeply in our lives thatwe do not notice them. This element of design is present on our carpets,rickshaws, buses, mazaars and pottery, every element that is combined togetherhas a meaning attached to it which then translates into visual culture. There is an evident use of the flower Lotus, some mystic jews believe that it was adam’s first wife whereas in sub-continent it holds a different meaning Hindusrefer it with the divine beings Vishnu, and to a lesser degree Kubera, Brahma and thegoddesses Saraswati and Lakshmi. Regularly utilized for instance of perfect excellence and virtue, Vishnu is frequently depicted as the "Lotus-EyedOne".
Karachi is an years old city which has a lot of symbolism and culture attached to it from different civilizations and religions like Indus Valley Civilization and Hinduism. Flowers in Islamic traditions are generally not featured as majorly as compared toother religions. But Roses are given significant importance in events like funerals, marriage etc. Geometric patterns and intricate floral patterns along with a motif of paisley are drawn on the feet and hands of brides as a symbolof good fortune and fertility. Along with the floral designs “Kairi” a kind ofmotif is also used abundantly Mazars are also one of such examples where you can see Islamic art, since it forbids use of animal or human figures inreligious places so the primary form of decoration of these sites is done through geometric shapes, floral patterns and calligraphy that is dominantly present in Qur’an.
The emblematic significance of the triple kept amid the Fourth Period Cultureor the Age of remote invasions when migrating individuals from the north-west brought their differing societies and set up political strength here. The earliest hint of kairi, referred to universally as the paisley is also from this period. Regularly made out of three concentric compartments, the focal region sometimes contains three flowerettes and the paisley in this frame, it most likely symbolized the intensity of the ancient trinity. It is additionally decorated with leaves and blossoms which additionally complement its life drive and is likewise battled to symbolize wings speaking to the SoulBird which ensures life and battles the stink eye. The paisley later turned out to be exceptionally mainstream especially in Kashmiri materials and is an overwhelming example in the popular pashmina shawls.
Concluding the paper, despite of all sorts of visual culture present in Karachi in the form of conventional art every art has its own significance and stands outon its own. They have deep rooted meanings with decades of history attached tothem and evolve with time to fit into the contemporary world.
