Naiza Khan

Born 1968 | Bahawalpur
Lives and works Karachi and London

In her practice, which encompasses works on paper, photography, sculpture, and video, Naiza Khan traces the ways in which geography has been shaped by structures of power, colonial history, and collective memory. For the 14th Gwangju Biennale, the artist presents Deep Conquest 2023, an installation that speaks to the inevitable relationship between hydrological infrastructures and colonial history, as dams and canal colonies were built at the port of Karachi as a part of the British Empire. The photographic images and drawings take inspiration from the expansion of Karachi and the subsequent ecological impact, such as the changing shapes of the shoreline and material infrastructure that start populating the ocean. The watercolours, on the other hand, metaphorise the levels and distribution of carbon dioxide in the Indian Ocean, as they capture paint pigments flowing across a pool of water as they dry and settle on the surface of the paper. Together, the installation presents representational and abstract modes of thinking that respond to the ways in which water features in the history of colonial empires.

Naiza Khan, Deep Conquest 2023. Inkjet print, watercolour on paper, charcoal and conté on paper. Dimensions variable. Installation view, 14th Gwangju Biennale (2023). Image courtesy Gwangju Biennale Foundation. Photo: glimworkers