BIO Veera Rustomji is an artist from Karachi, Pakistan. Her practice takes reference from stories and archives creating scenarios that deal with gender, geographical power structures and religious iconography. She holds a BFA from the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture (IVS) and an MA in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Arts at the University of the Arts London (UAL). In the past, Veera has conducted research on the multidimensional nature of Zoroastrian migration stories, comparing them with archaeological studies. She was the recipient of the UAL Postgraduate International Scholarship Award (2019) and the 2021-2022 Mead Fellowship which supported her independent research on the Indus Delta. Alongside her visual art practice, Veera has collaborated with the Citizens Archive of Pakistan, the Maritime Archaeology and Heritage Institute, Teesside University x Karachi Biennale Trust and Vasl Artists’ Association. She is faculty and the co-director of the Urban Repository Archive (URA) housed with the Department of Fine Art at IVS, supported by Art South Asia Project (ASAP).
Practice:
With an interest in archiving and documenting information around the Parsi community of Karachi, my practice has developed from utilizing personal family documents and photographs to creating my own documentation of the engulfing city of Karachi. I find it increasingly interestingly how minority communities are heavily reliant on oral mythologies and how family documents are a source of chronological history and religious values.
Hence, much of my research draws parallels with the city of Karachi and its rapid urbanization which inevitably eradicates past connections and narratives that are embedded in tangible and intangible forms within the fabric of the landscape and environment.Much of my process is through the lens of my camera as I pedantically photograph and film aspects of the city and its’ residents which stir my curiosity.
Through my work I try to look and question our notion of history and culture; what are the aspirations of societies which range from upper economic to lesser privileged stratas? How does our sense of environment, architecture and the use of vernacu-lar reflect family values and our notions of success? And, more recently, what are the repercussions for an increasingly polarized city where the documentation of heritage is sparse and limited?
Artist Statement | You Selfish Dreamer
The clattering of Mahjong tiles echoes in my ears. The soft but firm green sued lining of the table has just been brushed and cleaned by the ayah. I’m in the kitchen and I turn to my grandmother one last time before I’m pushed out into the living room, “Please don’t make me hold the tray of glasses” I begged, “It’s too heavy for me.” Of course, my whining does not get me anywhere and while I count every footstep I somehow make it to the war zone. With their perfectly filed nails, they assemble the mahjong tiles over batasas and tea, strategically distracting one another in hopes of veering the game towards their favour. It’s only 4:00 pm – the day is young and my nightmare has only just begun.
Artist Statement | Knowledge of the Ancients
Title: The Phantom Rei(g)ns
What does it mean to unharness or to unburden oneself of a legacy? Perhaps the Avestan word “avanghana” can provide some answers to this question: Avanghana can be translated to mean ‘’un-harnessing’’, but more importantly, it is used as a metaphor by the prophet Zarathustra, in the Gathas to describe a state of peace, at the end of the day.
Not too long ago, I came across etymological explanations of Avestan terms such as avanghana with other toponyms—‘’Hapta Hendava’’, for instance, is Avestan for ‘’Hapta Hindu’’, the 15th land listed in the first fargard (chapter) of the Vendidad, a Zoroastrian liturgical compendium, which begins by identifying the 16 lands lands created by Ahura Mazda. Hapta Hind as name, is evidently attributed to the present Indo-Gangetic plains and draws a clear parallel with “Sapta Sindhu”—the land of the seven rivers in the Sanskrit Rigveda. Hapta Hind and Sapta Sindhu are by enlarge, accepted to be the lands watered by the River Indus today and these ancient scriptures, may very well be some of the earliest references to Punjab and Sindh. An interesting contradiction arises however, within the research. The Lake Balkhash of Kazakhstan, surrounded by mountains, is also fed by seven rivers and is the legendary enclave of ancient Russia’s Lake Semirechye. The region poses a very likely connection between the steppes of Central Asia and Zoroastrian literature, particularly with descriptive emphasis placed on harsh, cold temperatures, short days, long nights, and most unusual, horse riding metaphors in Avestan. In fact, chariot racing, breeding, and saddling the horse, are key visuals evoked in the Avestan Gathas, drawing attention towards Zarathustra’s nomadic life, which heavily relied on animals as a way of life. The horse is today still, somewhat sacred in the highlands of Central Asia —a horse is never without its owner, just as a man can never be without a horse.
While the symbolic value in understanding the horse in literature, can lead us to repurpose the word, ‘’avanghana‘’ by un-hersting ourselves of the doctrine present in singular interpretations on geography and religion, we could also dissuade ourselves of prototypes, to travel through history itself, unburdened and unfeigned.