Maraya Art Centre is excited to be opening two new solo presentations by emerging artists Yaminay Chaudhri (Pakistan) and Arwa Al Neami (Saudi Arabia). The exhibitions are part of an experimental format co-curated by Maraya Art Centre curator Laura Metzler and Independent Curator Aziz Sohail (Pakistan). The format presents two separate projects by artists from different global regions alongside one another to provide an opportunity to delve into their respective practices and to open up potentials for dialogue across art communities.

In Rooms are Never Finished the artist presents a body of work analyzing urban change in Karachi through the lens of Darakhshan Township, a middle class neighborhood, its relationship to the nearby public beach. Chaudhri draws on her experience growing up in this community and uses architectural spaces and development to document social changes in the area. The resulting pieces consider how the aspirations at the core of this development is manifested through the evolution of these homes and their encroachment on this vibrant public space.

Arwa Al Neami presents work from her ongoing Never Never Land series that focuses on the annual fun fair in Abha, Saudi Arabia as part of the city’s summer festival that Al Neami has been attending and documenting since 2013. This iteration of the project presents a combination of photographs and videos that analyze the fair as a culmination point of different aspirational structures within Saudi society through the architectural space and experience of the park itself.