The KBT press conference held here earlier today at Gulgee Museum, raised the curtain on Karachi Biennale 2027 to be curated by Noor Ahmed under the theme ‘Kal – Yesterday/Tomorrow’ scheduled to take place from 16th – 31st January 2027.
According to a statement today, the event was well-attended by the media as well as the who’s who of the city from the corporate and art world. The conference threw light on its achievements over the last decade, acknowledging all its partners and supporters who helped to establish the Biennale as a mega event to look forward to in a city otherwise beleagured by problems. While introducing the new curator for the Biennale, Noor Ahmed, it also introduced the new chairperson, Atteqa Malik and the new managing trustee, Shanaz Ramzi.
After a warm welcome by chairperson Malik, an impressive visual presentation of the past Biennales was shown. The new Managing Trustee, Shanaz Ramzi was then invited for her opening remarks. Speaking on the occasion, Ramzi said, ‘At ten years, the Karachi Biennale Trust stands as a testament to what sustained cultural collaboration can build for a city. As we look toward KB27, we reaffirm our commitment to making art publicly accessible while creating global conversations rooted in Karachi’s realities.’
Bushra Hussain, the artistic director of KB27 shed light on the previous biennales. Ahmed spoke about her vision and theme of KB27, and how she hoped to make this Biennale even bigger and more far-reaching than the successful iterations of the previous years.
Malik thanked those who made the evening possible, including Vertika, Naila and Rafique Bhimjee, IVS, Starlinks PR and Events, Keepsakes Pakistan, and the Gulgee Museum. Following the press conference, the invitees were treated to an exclusive viewing of the landmark exhibition of performance and new media installation curated by Amin Gulgee and Noor Ahmed. The special performance titled ‘Aaj Aur Kal’ marked the beginning of the official countdown to Karachi Biennale 2027 (KB27), which will be celebrating ten years of advancing contemporary art in Pakistan. Among the 72 artists from 18 countries featured at ‘Aaj Aur Kal’ were Salima Hashmi, RM Naeem, Raqs Media Collective, Meher Afroz, Heide Hatry, Natthaphon Chaiworawat, Richard Humann, Sohail Zuberi, and Risham Syed.
After the exclusive viewing the one-day exhibition was opened to the general public.
Karachi Biennale Trust was founded in 2016, the Karachi Biennale Trust (KBT) is a non-profit platform established by art professionals and educators to promote creativity, innovation, and critical discourse in the visual arts.
KBT’s flagship project, the Karachi Biennale, functions as a city-wide temporary museum, presenting exhibitions, talks, seminars, and public programmes across heritage sites, cultural institutions, and public parks – free and open to all.
KB 2027 Curator Noor Ahmed isthe curator of Karachi Biennale 2027. She is co-curator of River Landscapes, a project between South Asia and Europe, that creates a transdisciplinary glossary of water. In 2021 she was part of the team curating the Pakistan Pavilion at Dubai Expo 2020, which won a silver award amongst 192 countries at the World Expo. She was Project Director/Lead Curator of the ‘Digital Curation of Lahore and Taxila Museums’, Pakistan’s largest museum digitisation project, that was supported by the World Bank and executed by the Government of Punjab and The Citizens Archive of Pakistan. She was also the assistant curator of KB19. Her writings on contemporary art and culture appear in international and local publications.