Widely considered to be one of the leading artists of his generation in South Asia today, Rashid Rana emerged as the maker of an entirely new kind of art from Pakistan, at the start of this century. Notable for his ideas, imagery, and pictorial strategies, Rashid Rana has exhibited extensively at various galleries and museums globally. His works are in various public and private collections including the British Museum London, Metropolitan Museum New York, Fukuoka Museum of Art, Japan and Saatchi Collection, London. He is the recipient of the prestigious Game-Changer Asia Art Award and was awarded the International Artist of the Year by SAVAC Canada in 2003.
Primarily known for his art practice, Rashid Rana, in fact, occupies multiple simultaneous profiles. He mediates between artist, curator and an academic with a common thread of an unfixed and non-prescriptive view of geography and identity. He is a founding faculty member and currently the Dean of the School of Visual Arts and Design at BNU, Lahore.
GET-TOGETHER IN THE TIME OF CORONA
Rashid Rana’s virtual Birthday | April 7, 2020
“Virtual is the New Real” – Rashid Rana
Rashid Rana, a renowned contemporary artist from Pakistan, made the virtual felt more real and touched the hearts of his friends from all continents, When he and his wife (the artist, Aroosa Rana), held an online get together for his birthday on 6th April.
He says, “he has never been a fan of celebrating birthdays but at these uncertain times one feels the need to celebrate life more than ever before”.
At about 8 pm on Monday, friends across the world got an invite to a birthday party at 10.30! That must be the shortest ever a time anyone has been given for a birthday celebration, but in such a time of lockdown, nothing seemed more welcoming than meeting and coming close to friends! Only Rashid Rana could make this happen! It was his birthday and his wife Aroosa Rana and he was the hosts on Zoom!
This last-minute idea for a virtual birthday celebration, while in quarantine, was well attended by more than 50 virtual guests; most of them distinguished professionals of the art world. Amongst the guests were renowned gallerists and visual artists Haroon Mirza, Subodh Gupta, Bani Abidi, Shireen Gandhi, Mort Chatterjee, and Tara Lal. Pakistani stars Ali Zafar and Ayesha Omar were also present. Both of them sang birthday wishes for the artist.
Many participants thought that their computer and phone screens during the Zoom chat were similar to Rana’s art. The event concluded with Rana claiming this gathering as the “Best birthday celebration ever”.
Rashi Rana
