Basir Mahmood

Brown Bodies in an Open Landscape are Often Migrating

Through the prism of cinema, the work traces the journeys of undocumented migrants across vast lands, exploring distance as a condition of diasporic lives just as it is a position intrinsic to the act of filming. The artist invited a crew from the cinema industry of his native Lahore—also known as Lollywood—to script and direct a series of sequences, the narrative of which would be loosely based on videos found online. Recorded by migrants as they travel from South Asia to Europe, such videos give insight into the harshness of their peregrinations—which often last for years and sometimes do not reach the intended destination—as well as offering practical pieces of advice to those who have yet to depart.

Sunsets, everyday

Sunsets, everyday is the result of an investigation that the artist undertook of the process, both physical and cinematic, involved in creating images of domestic violence. During the lockdown, some victims courageously used social media to share photos of their faces, as a way of encouraging other women to report such crimes. The marks on their bodies were the only tangible proof of the blows and pain they had suffered, and the artist took these as a point of departure for thinking about all the things that happen out of sight.

Sunsets, everyday

Sunsets, everyday is the result of an investigation that the artist undertook of the process, both physical and cinematic, involved in creating images of domestic violence. During the lockdown, some victims courageously used social media to share photos of their faces, as a way of encouraging other women to report such crimes. The marks on their bodies were the only tangible proof of the blows and pain they had suffered, and the artist took these as a point of departure for thinking about all the things that happen out of sight.

Good Ended Happily

A Lollywood production of the raid on Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad.

All Voices are Mine

All Voices are Mine is a remake of a film that was never made in the first place. A dream in broad daylight in which Basir Mahmood assembles his scenes in an elliptical sequence of calm, surreal motifs.

Monument of Arrival and Return

A portrait of railway porters from Lahore, invited to engage and improvise with a set of domestic objects and personal items.