Textured Brilliance: Beyond the Canvas

Noorjehan Bilgrami, asa woman and as amultidisciplinary artist(for lack of a better word),is deeply rooted in her heritage,a heritage she finds and weavesinto all she encounters. “Thegranite boulders and the greenhills of Hyderabad,” she recalls herbirthplace, “drew me to the rich,red soil of Sri Lanka. I was alwaysclosely drawn to my origins.”

Bilgrami traces these origins,tangibly feeling them in thetextures, visuals, and mitti of allthe places that have informedher person and thus her art. Forher, art is not only about makingbeautiful objects; it is an act thatgoes beyond time and place, “anintuitive response to the materialyou are working with, using yourown hands.”

At the heart of Bilgrami’s philosophy is a deep appreciationfor the haptic touch – the direct,unmediated interaction withmaterials through the hands.This tactile engagement iswhere creation begins. It is in thespace between her hands, asthey mould clay, weave fabric,or paint on paper, that makeseach medium she touches aprocess both deeply personal andintentionally grounded.

That groundedness shinesthrough instantly, “I’m not a verypeople person,” she admits,“You can’t change inwardly as aperson because you are put intosituations by factors that are notwithin your control.” Whatever sheis working on leads her towardssomething else, but on the inside?“On the inside, you are alwaysfragile,” she smiles. “Alwaysbutterflies before an interview or apublic speech.”

This has never stopped her fromchasing her curiosity, whereverand whenever it sparks. On oneof Bilgrami’s many visits to SriLanka, “a culture that affected mevery much”, her glance fell upona magazine at the dentist’s office.In a section dedicated to localarchitecture, she was immediatelydrawn to the SOS Villages inPiliyandala and embarked ona “seemingly endless” tuk-tukjourney. Two hours later, she fell inlove with the architectural designand obtained the architect C.Anjalendran’s number from thelocals, who told her of his rarevisits. Unfazed, she wrote him anote expressing her admirationfor his work. “Of course, I neverheard from him,” she laughed,“but this is how connections startto take place in your life.” Manyyears later, Anjalendran acceptedBilgrami’s invitation and travelledto Pakistan.

This openness to connectwith the land and its inhabitantsis driven by an intense desire tolearn, and Bilgrami disciplines thatdesire by practising Vipassana.The strict meditative moments“give you frightening glimpses of yourself,” she pauses, “but that’sthe only moment of truth that youexperience…so experiential in itsability to open up doors throughwhich you can see yourself. Ithelped me find my inner being.”

It also allowed Bilgrami to retaina determined calm, enabling her toidentify and move in the directionshe wanted. At the Indus ValleySchool of Art & Architecture (whichshe co-founded), she would “begina period by collecting everyonetogether and trying to get them tosit with their eyes closed for fiveminutes,” she smiles, “I think theyhated me for that but in hindsight,many expressed how telling thosefive minutes were, trying to bequiet and realising how difficult it isfor you to do just that.”

To nurture that silence in thehabar dabarof Karachi, Bilgrami constructeda concrete sanctuary in the formof Koel, one that does not let inthe relentless tooting of hornsand squabbling of men. The useof Koel’s space and “opennessto let the light, the wind and theinsects come in” is a conceptshe attributes to Sri Lanka. Ananecdote that has stayed withBilgrami, all these years later, stemsfrom the 10 days she spent in Kandy, at a Buddhistmonastery. There, she met a female monkwho happened to be a formerstudent of the prolific architectGeoffrey Bawa. Before the noblesilence took place, Bilgrami askedthe monk, “How do you manageto live here? You are asked tokeep your torch on, look underyour bed for snakes and checkfor scorpions. Aren’t you scared?”The monk smiled, pointed towardsthe scorpion and said “A scorpioncarries all its poison in that onelittle tip. If you let it move, it won’tdo you any harm. But outside thiswilderness, you are surroundedby humans. And they are full ofpoison.” Bilgrami took that gem ofknowledge and distilled it to refineand grow in her surroundings.

She has learnt to tune outthe noise. “With art and witheverything that I do, I don’tapproach it according to whatpeople would like to see. I do whatI believe in, as long as I am beinghonest with myself.”

Bilgrami’s interactions withdifferent cultures and environmentsare acts of giving, taking, discardingand disseminating whateverresounds with her present. TheKoel Gallery and Koel Shop arean ode to these learnings, andthe latter remains today whatBilgrami envisioned from thestart: timeless. “I am not a fashiondesigner because I don’t believe infashion. I believe in timelessness.”The handcrafted clothing at Koeltranscends fashion’s fluctuations,“the buzzwords of sustainability,eco-friendly and recycling are notnew,” she says, “they have alwaysbeen part of our existence, ourtraditions and our soil.”

Bilgrami’s person and artembody a groundedness thatfuels all ventures. Her explorationof indigo reflects this profoundconnection to the earth and itsroots. In this pursuit of tracing andharnessing the origin of materials,she travelled to Japan to researchthe journey of the ancient dye.“I was so inspired by the wholeplant, its manifestation and themaking of the dye.”

Her pursuit of understandingthe origins of the material allowsfor a deeper connection with thematerial itself, and today, “workingwith indigo on paper, the layerseach brushstroke produces havemade this the closest medium forpersonal expression.” In Japan,Bilgrami learned “the sensibilitiesof understanding the aestheticsand going into the essenceof materiality,” she explained,“There is a duality in Japan: theside which yearns for physicalbeautification and eyelid surgeriescoexists with the underlyingrespect for nature, the arts, theelders and the teachers.”

Hence, within the greeneryof Sri Lanka, the red soil ofHyderabad, and the gardens ofJapan, what is her relationshipwith Karachi? She chuckles,“Karachi’s energy is like no other.It’s alive. It’s resilient. People havetheir lives eroded; they face themost difficult of circumstances, yetthey keep going.”

This resilience found its wayinto her art and into her life, asshe narrates an incident that directly informed her work. “Nearthe highway, there were a lot ofAfghan women whose land wassuddenly taken away. Amidst thebulldozed remains of their homes,I saw the women rummagingthrough the rubble to pull outwhatever they could, remnants oftheir lives buried under the rocks.”

She took that helplessness andbegan tearing paper, cloth, andbandages, a physical responsethat culminated in her collagework, eventually creating a piececalled ‘Crying for the Light’. Acutelyself-aware, she acknowledges“the self-indulgence and privilegethat allow for such a visceraloutlet to express my feelings.”

The resilience she learnt fromthis city has enriched all aspects ofher life, personal and professional.The balance she cultivated hasguided her throughout, particularlywhen navigating the demandsof work, family and personaltime. “It has always been a partof my existence. I was studyingwhen I got married at 20, had mydaughter Sarah at 21, and I neverstopped working.”

A true Karachiite, amongstmany other things, Bilgrami showsno signs of slowing down. “There’smuch to discover and I need manymore lives to do all that I want todo.” At this moment in time, she isdetermined to return to the corebasics, “to work with whatever isright in front of me.” Her sights areset on Lahore, where she plans toopen Koel Shop with a collectiontitled ‘Kora’, which meansunbleached. Determined to stripaway the ostentation, vibrancy andloud colours of typical clothing,she wants to challenge the noiseand glitz of Lahore to “produce acollection that is basic, down toearth and bare.”

Asked about her legacy, shereplies, “What legacy? I’m stillliving!” Thus, perhaps it is moreaccurate to describe NoorjehanBilgrami’s journey as a livinglegacy, one that continues to evolveand inspire. The creative processnever ends; her legacy is notsomething static or confined to thepast; it is a living entity that growsand transforms with each newexperience and act of creation.