Holding Ground: Artists, Institutions, and Exchange in Divided Times
Adeela Suleman in conversation with Nina Mdivani
What does it take to hold ground, to keep art communities and dialogue alive, in politically divided times? Artist, educator, and director of Vasl Artists' Association Adeela Suleman has spent decades building spaces in Karachi for artists to learn, gather, and exchange knowledge. In conversation with curator and writer Nina Mdivani, she reflects on the role of artists and institutions in sustaining dialogue across political and cultural divides, and on what her experience in Karachi might offer art communities elsewhere.
The conversation is part of the Badiyeh Arts Exchange Program, in partnership with Vasl Artists' Association (Karachi), and is hosted by Fou Gallery.
Adeela Suleman is a Karachi-based artist, educator, and the founding member and Director of Vasl Artists' Association. Working primarily in sculpture, she addresses violence and loss in contemporary Pakistan, and her work has been exhibited internationally, including at Asia Society, New York; the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco; and the Singapore Biennale. She headed the Fine Art Department at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture from 2008 to 2019.
Nina Mdivani is a Tbilisi-born, New York-based curator, writer, and researcher whose work focuses on alternative narratives within dominant cultures. Her writing has appeared in Artforum, Flash Art, Hyperallergic, The Art Newspaper, and The Brooklyn Rail, and she is the author of King is Female (2018) and the creator of Hot Coffee Conversations. She has curated exhibitions in New York, Berlin, Tbilisi, and Mexico City, including recent shows at Fou Gallery.
Badiyeh Arts is an artist-run initiative founded by Negin Mahzoun and Tooraj Khamenehzadeh, dedicated to international cultural exchange, curatorial practice, and long-term collaboration across artistic contexts, with a particular commitment to Global South perspectives. badiyeh.org