We are delighted to present Baaton se baat nikalti hai—Muzzumil Ruheel’s first solo exhibition at TARQ. In this exhibition, Ruheel uses meticulously rendered Urdu Calligraphy as the basis of his new paintings and sculptural installations.
The artist’s wider practice is about metaphorical interpretations; investigating perceptions about social to mundane events usually based on their documented narratives. In this show, he delves into the idea of conversation; from private conversations to confrontational ones he talks of the presence as well the absence of words. In his play of words he twists, mirrors, repeats, isolates alphabets from collected personal and marginalized accounts pointing to the fundamental ways in which our stories are written. The rigorous use of calligraphy amplifies a sense of mystery for the viewer, where we can read the text but a coherent meaning cannot be extracted from any of the texts. Ruheel takes advantage of this and Baaton se baat nikalti hai transforms further into a different conversation that we have with ourselves.
In her essay, Gemma Sharpe writes, “Baaton se Baat Nikalti hai is a babble of conversations with and about Conversation. Metaphors, jokes, puns, turns of phrase, and marginalized narratives bounce between the gallery walls, whispering of their origins in Ruheel’s readings and story-spinnings. Yet at the same time, the exhibition is thoroughly led by its medium—a calligraphic craft of centuries. To coin a paradoxical term, Muzzumil Ruheel is a maker of “fictional formalisms”. His work begins with narrative but in the end, gives itself over to the rigor of calligraphy.”