#mantiqofthemantis

Goonj: Echoing Mantis & Duurbeen: Moving Images on 29th March 2018 at Mantiq of the Mantis A day of surreal sounds, time travel and traversing the real to the irreal! Goonj: Echoing Mantis launched its first event on 29th March 2018 at Mantiq of the Mantis with Mehreen Murtaza's live installation '...how will you conduct yourself in the company of trees' and Duurbeen: Moving Images screened a video by

Hira Nabi

'what do the trees tell us?' Mantiq of the Mantis introduces an on going experience of encountering sound through multiple dimensions that reframe our everyday soundscape. Here, we escape the habitual notion of time and space, gradually re-discovering the breathing of sound that seems so vast, almost infinite and glacial. We consider the poetics of aurality through a combination of the sonic effects of anamnesis and decontextualization.A special thank you to everyone who helped MotM with this event!

Komal Ghazali 

Ammar Ali Siddiqui for the documentation,

Hira Nabi

for sharing her beautiful video,

Maham Suhail

and

Hanna Gardell

for their spontaneous performances with the singing plants and

Nour Nazifa Aslam

and

Rashid Rana

Rashid Rana Studio

for their wonderful presence.‘What do the trees tell us?’(duration: 17 mins) by Hira NabiThe video will be screened twice on Thursday 26th March: 4.30pm and 6.30 pm.Presented as a video diptych, it moves into the preserved gardens and the ruins of what were once gardens. The video’s narrative contemplates the significance of empire and colonialism, and the path that Lahore has embarked upon towards modernity.This work has previously been shown at Twelve Gates Arts Gallery in Philadelphia, USA.Hira Nabi’s visual work ‘All That Perishes on the Edge of Land’ was on display at Alhamra Arts Council, Mall till the 31st of March as part of the Lahore Biennale.Hira Nabi is an artist, filmmaker and researcher. Her artistic and research-based practice spans film, video, audio, and text. She holds a BA in video and cultural studies from Hampshire College, and an MA in media and cinema studies from The New School. Her work looks at repositories of memory in urban landscapes, contested or imagined histories, labor, and a keen observation of the built and natural environment.'...how will you conduct yourself in the company of trees' by Mehreen Murtaza is a live sonic installation curated by Sabeen Jamil

Set up in Baagh-e-Jinnah (Lawrence Garden), Lahore as part of Lahore Biennale till 31st March on a hill top where a Banyan / Bargad / Bori Tree has been living, listening and holding memories for almost over 60 years. The tree has been given a voice through human technology which converts electro-magnetic signals to sound. The Bargad sings to us as we move, interact and connect with it. What can we learn by listening to our silent companions?Mehreen Murtaza works across a range of media to explore the intersecting worlds of technology, nature, science and spirituality. Mehreen is an artist based in Lahore, Pakistan. She has exhibited her works internationally and received many grants, awards and scholarships to execute her artwork. She is also the co-founder of Mantiq of the Mantis, an experimental publishing house and creative space in Lahore.

@mehreen.murtaza @mantiqofthemantis