Venice to Lahore; Lahore Biennale Foundation brings one of the most prestigious art events

Lahore: The Lahore Biennale Foundation (LBF) is scheduled to make its first public release with the opening of Rashid Rana’s project My East is Your West, at Liberty Market on May 5th, 2015. ‘My East is Your West’ Lahore/Venice project is a collaborative effort between Rashid Rana/Gujral foundation and the Lahore Biennale Foundation. Rashid Rana is one of Pakistan’s leading contemporary artists, a pioneer in Pakistani art showcasing this first large-scale public project of its kind in the region.

Rashid Rana’s works are featured in this year’s Venice Biennale, one of the most prestigious art events of the world. Part of these works in Venice will feature a room with a video projection of live feed from a mirrored space in Liberty Market. Audiences in Venice will be able to see and interact with publics in Lahore. The artist’s room in Lahore, an exactly replicated space, will similarly allow viewers to witness the Venice audience through another live feed. The project will thus break barriers between these two publics across the globe, through just a simple room.

The LBF is a non-profit, multidisciplinary organization that seeks to engage with the arts through discursive dialogue, critical thinking and public engagement in order to reclaim a place for the arts in Pakistan’s national discourse and establish a conversation that spans across nations. LBF is providing support to Rana’s project from Pakistan, by offering a window into Venice for audiences in Lahore. The organization will be assisting with parallel programs and launch in Lahore, corresponding with audiences in Venice.

The partnership between LBF and Rashid Rana’s project fits neatly as both seek to engage the public in art, initiating an alternative dialogue in the region and expanding possibilities for artists, whilst also questioning the position of the arts as an institution.

LBF gives special recognition to HBL and its team for an outstanding partnership to enable and realize art in public spaces through their objective of enabling dreams.