‘STRENGTH BEYOND EXPRESSION’. BY Klara Mujahid.
A real treat is being offered to those art lovers who appreciate surrealistic art. The Raffi Peer Theater Workshop at the Alliance Franchise has put on Mohammed Bugi’s exhibition entitled: “Strength Behind the Lines of Expression”. Mbugi is not one of those artists that frequently entertain us with their works. His exhibitions are scarce & far in between. The reason Bugi explains is his old pair of shoes that he hung up at the Art Council in retaliation for the Art’s Council having censored thirty percent of the pieces of his very first exhibition. The year was 1977, a year of political turmoil. The pieces censored envisioned the time to come under Martial Law. Bugi protested in a way which may be unique but by all means characteristic for him & the Arts Council had expelled him. Other Galleries followed suit. No gallery in Pakistan was ready to take his works being afraid of the wrath of the country’s ruling clique. He was able to exhibit only at the Alliance Franchise, Goethe Institut, & in private showings. Bugi has been apolitically motivated painter fright from the beginning. His form of expression which is closest to him is surrealism that draws heavily on the subconscious. Surrealism means ‘above the real’ , its origin is French & its best know representative is the Spanish Salvador Dali. As Bugi has demonstrated it, surrealism can be a powerful form of expression & Bugi enhances that power by using ink & pen, dark scratches against a white background. His drawings radiate strength that is indeed beyond the lines of expression.
HIGHLY SYMBOLIC:
In keeping with the tenants of surrealism, Bugi’s pieces are highly abstract & symbolic. Yet, the meaning does shine through the seemingly obscure. The piece that had the greatest impact on me was the one called “Waiting for Dowry”. It needed no commentary of explanation to understanding it. A ghastly female figure, once a young girl, sits chained to her destiny waiting endlessly to get married. Only the moon is her companion, that reflects her face. Too much a common occurrence in our society. It brings back the memories of the film, screened rather clandestinely a few years back “Don’t Shoot the Horse”. Bugi deals with powerful social problems, one of them is women. Woman has her own feelings, will, emotions, dreams, she is an individual entity. In the “Crucifixion of Emotions” Bugi shows how her emotions & dreams are shattered, tortured we can even say, crucified by the male, father, brother, husband. In the “Biochemistry of Social Evils” the woman is shown as a statue, a mere piece of decoration, totally vulnerable to her master’s whimsies’. Bugi fully utilises the techniques of surrealism, such as repetition of a figure on smaller or larger scales, like reverberations of his mind’s waves to create an even more powerful impact. Even the tiniest stroke of pen has its own meaning in Bugi’s world.
OLD VERSES NEW: ‘A recurring theme of Bugi’s pieces is the old verses the new. Ancient customs, traditions & cultures are pitched against the present. Lo’ What we ere & what we’ve become. The Greek legacy the exploits of Alexander the Great in this part of the world are also on Bugi’s mind. One of the pieces shows a young man, resembling a Greek youth. It symbolises the Pakistani youth that should grow up healthy, free of disease. For as the old Greek proverb has it, only a healthy body can have a healthy mind. Wings also figure prominently in Bugi’s works: “The Dove Of Peace”. Pegasus the winged horse from the Greek Mythology, the great earth mother from ancient beliefs and there are the masses, contained & being forced to march into tunnels. These masses will break free one day. Here we come back to Bugi: His painting “Eleven years Under a Dictatorship rule” is a powerful expression of the state of intellectuals during that period. A hand trying desperately to try to reach the palette from behind bars but unable to do so for the bars hold it back speaks for itself. And then there is the dove that once flew, but now is falling to the ground, its body having been pierced through by a corkscrew.
Bugi has a world of two to say about environmental protection. An angly shape which we might call the ‘Great Earth Mother’, to whom according to ancient beliefs, all life was born tries to hold a big piece of rock. The fragile figure to wings struggling to hold that heavy rock is a grim reminder of the struggle we must carry out to keep our plane in one piece. We must not allow pollution, chemical or nuclear to destroy it.
LOVER OF CHILDREN:
Bugi is a widely travelled man with a broad knowledge. In Sri Lanka he studied Temple Art. In Hong Kong he studied calligraphy & in China he leant ancient Chinese Art and painting on rice paper. He also spent time in Kafiristan painting the Qualash. Bugi is fascinated with children. He organised numerable workshops for children, at home and aboard to celebrate ‘The year of the Disabled’ and ‘The Year of the Child’. Perhaps few know that he was the man behind Holiday Inn’s celebrated Children’s Parties. Bugi also writes poetry.
The essence of his exhibition is best reflected in one of his verses:
“My Mother Land”.
Cover me up with that veil, so I can hide these emotions.
That I have for you, Oh my Mother land.
Wrap me up with that stained cloth, through which I cannot see.
Your rulers faces of lust for power.
And I through my mind’s eye, might dream of a day.
When my country’s masses will be in command of their own destiny.
Net Assistance Provided from a Friend of Leslie Cherry.
**Truth To a MIRROR*-----the One who asks us to Pretend, In an urge to outgrow these human Sentiments,and sit by somewhere in the Night of Tyranny,,Hand in hand, In False hopes,And just tell a bunch of Lies, what can an image do ?, in the mirror ? when the Viewers are Throwing Stones, On the First Sight Of Truth That they see-Right before My weary Eyes, M.Bugi-Poems in exile......
This is Mine Dream to Buy all Mine works and collect them in a single Place and call it Bugiandassociates I am not a born Genius,,,,,, I worked my way to achieve ABC of ART, for 12 long years in Holland I studied Anatomy Graphics Lithography as well as Etching, Lino Prints, all Forms of Graphics, so that My Prints have a Long Life,,
A real treat is being offered to those art lovers who appreciate surrealistic art. The Raffi Peer Theater Workshop at the Alliance Franchise has put on Mohammed Bugi’s exhibition entitled: “Strength Behind the Lines of Expression”. Mbugi is not one of those artists that frequently entertain us with their works. His exhibitions are scarce & far in between. The reason Bugi explains is his old pair of shoes that he hung up at the Art Council in retaliation for the Art’s Council having censored thirty percent of the pieces of his very first exhibition. The year was 1977, a year of political turmoil. The pieces censored envisioned the time to come under Martial Law. Bugi protested in a way which may be unique but by all means characteristic for him & the Arts Council had expelled him. Other Galleries followed suit. No gallery in Pakistan was ready to take his works being afraid of the wrath of the country’s ruling clique. He was able to exhibit only at the Alliance Franchise, Goethe Institut, & in private showings. Bugi has been apolitically motivated painter fright from the beginning. His form of expression which is closest to him is surrealism that draws heavily on the subconscious. Surrealism means ‘above the real’ , its origin is French & its best know representative is the Spanish Salvador Dali. As Bugi has demonstrated it, surrealism can be a powerful form of expression & Bugi enhances that power by using ink & pen, dark scratches against a white background. His drawings radiate strength that is indeed beyond the lines of expression.
HIGHLY SYMBOLIC:
In keeping with the tenants of surrealism, Bugi’s pieces are highly abstract & symbolic. Yet, the meaning does shine through the seemingly obscure. The piece that had the greatest impact on me was the one called “Waiting for Dowry”. It needed no commentary of explanation to understanding it. A ghastly female figure, once a young girl, sits chained to her destiny waiting endlessly to get married. Only the moon is her companion, that reflects her face. Too much a common occurrence in our society. It brings back the memories of the film, screened rather clandestinely a few years back “Don’t Shoot the Horse”. Bugi deals with powerful social problems, one of them is women. Woman has her own feelings, will, emotions, dreams, she is an individual entity. In the “Crucifixion of Emotions” Bugi shows how her emotions & dreams are shattered, tortured we can even say, crucified by the male, father, brother, husband. In the “Biochemistry of Social Evils” the woman is shown as a statue, a mere piece of decoration, totally vulnerable to her master’s whimsies’. Bugi fully utilises the techniques of surrealism, such as repetition of a figure on smaller or larger scales, like reverberations of his mind’s waves to create an even more powerful impact. Even the tiniest stroke of pen has its own meaning in Bugi’s world.
OLD VERSES NEW: ‘A recurring theme of Bugi’s pieces is the old verses the new. Ancient customs, traditions & cultures are pitched against the present. Lo’ What we ere & what we’ve become. The Greek legacy the exploits of Alexander the Great in this part of the world are also on Bugi’s mind. One of the pieces shows a young man, resembling a Greek youth. It symbolises the Pakistani youth that should grow up healthy, free of disease. For as the old Greek proverb has it, only a healthy body can have a healthy mind. Wings also figure prominently in Bugi’s works: “The Dove Of Peace”. Pegasus the winged horse from the Greek Mythology, the great earth mother from ancient beliefs and there are the masses, contained & being forced to march into tunnels. These masses will break free one day. Here we come back to Bugi: His painting “Eleven years Under a Dictatorship rule” is a powerful expression of the state of intellectuals during that period. A hand trying desperately to try to reach the palette from behind bars but unable to do so for the bars hold it back speaks for itself. And then there is the dove that once flew, but now is falling to the ground, its body having been pierced through by a corkscrew.
Bugi has a world of two to say about environmental protection. An angly shape which we might call the ‘Great Earth Mother’, to whom according to ancient beliefs, all life was born tries to hold a big piece of rock. The fragile figure to wings struggling to hold that heavy rock is a grim reminder of the struggle we must carry out to keep our plane in one piece. We must not allow pollution, chemical or nuclear to destroy it.
LOVER OF CHILDREN:
Bugi is a widely travelled man with a broad knowledge. In Sri Lanka he studied Temple Art. In Hong Kong he studied calligraphy & in China he leant ancient Chinese Art and painting on rice paper. He also spent time in Kafiristan painting the Qualash. Bugi is fascinated with children. He organised numerable workshops for children, at home and aboard to celebrate ‘The year of the Disabled’ and ‘The Year of the Child’. Perhaps few know that he was the man behind Holiday Inn’s celebrated Children’s Parties. Bugi also writes poetry.
The essence of his exhibition is best reflected in one of his verses:
“My Mother Land”.
Cover me up with that veil, so I can hide these emotions.
That I have for you, Oh my Mother land.
Wrap me up with that stained cloth, through which I cannot see.
Your rulers faces of lust for power.
And I through my mind’s eye, might dream of a day.
When my country’s masses will be in command of their own destiny.
Net Assistance Provided from a Friend of Leslie Cherry.
**Truth To a MIRROR*-----the One who asks us to Pretend, In an urge to outgrow these human Sentiments,and sit by somewhere in the Night of Tyranny,,Hand in hand, In False hopes,And just tell a bunch of Lies, what can an image do ?, in the mirror ? when the Viewers are Throwing Stones, On the First Sight Of Truth That they see-Right before My weary Eyes, M.Bugi-Poems in exile......
This is Mine Dream to Buy all Mine works and collect them in a single Place and call it Bugiandassociates I am not a born Genius,,,,,, I worked my way to achieve ABC of ART, for 12 long years in Holland I studied Anatomy Graphics Lithography as well as Etching, Lino Prints, all Forms of Graphics, so that My Prints have a Long Life,,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vrfSPWnqmU
