Adeela Suleman: Allegory of War

Internationally acclaimed artist Adeela Suleman is known for her works exploring social and political issues, particularly the links between historic and contemporary violence experienced in her home city Karachi, Pakistan. This will be her most comprehensive solo exhibition at a public gallery in the UK.

Suleman employs recurring motifs such as organic subjects including birds and flowers to form detailed, repetitive patterns, referencing the decorative traditions of the Mughal style. Notions of loss and disappearance quietly resonate through her sculptures.

The exhibition features a selection of works including film projections, metal repoussé work, ceramic plates, intricate applique and installation. Traditional crafts, such as appliqué, are used to make domestic quilts which incorporate storytelling and pass time for women after the daily chores in rural areas of Pakistan. Each stitch and layer is embedded with memory, colossal pain and loss. Suleman ornaments and embellishes the cloth with hand embroidery, beads and sequins.