Syed Munawar Ali
Munawar Ali Syed (b.1975) is a multidisciplinary artist and art educator based in Karachi. He holds BFA from National College of Arts (1999) and MA (Art Education) from Beacon House National University (2017) Munawar continues to explore and express through new materials and processes through drawing, installation, sculpture and performance.
He received two ADA National Awards (2019) for his performance and site-specific works. Munawar was the winner of Sovereign Asian Art Public Choice award (2019). He is an Associate Professor at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi. Syed’s artworks have been shown in eight solo exhibitions and numerous national and international group exhibitions including Karachi Biennial 2017-19. He has also collaborated with local Pakistani artists and craftsmen such as Truck artist and produce several public artworks as accessible public art initiatives also such as ‘Rung dey Karachi’ (2010), “Reimagining Walls of Karachi” and “Great wall of Truck Art” (2017). He was a working group member of Vasl Artist Collective.
Syed participated in international residencies and workshops including Burragorang International Artist’s Workshop, Australia (2003), The Vasl International Artist’s Workshop, Pakistan (2004), Braziers International Artist’s Workshop, UK and Westburry Farm Residency, UK (2005). In 2016, Syed was awarded the SATHA innovation award for his contribution to the public art.
Art is the mirror of my creative vision, an abstract object of my desires and a manifestation of my existence. My multi-disciplinary art practice focuses on issues pertinent to social stratification system that categorizes people into standings of socioeconomic tiers based on factors such as race, colour, wealth, income and education. The effects of such influences are amplified in materialistic urban life, like cosmopolitan cities like Karachi where social division creates anxiety, inequality, and self-absorbed attitudes towards life. Through careful deconstruction of the aesthetic components of most mundane and functional objects of consumption, often discarded and disused, I seek to transcend the traditional dichotomies such as structure from the agency, high from the low, concepts from the value and the sacred from the profane. Furthermore, my diverse technical skills and knowledge in traditional and contemporary art practices inform my visual message and help me to communicate that message to different audiences.