Biography

Artist duo Shahana Rajani and Zahra Malkani explore the politics of infrastructure, development and securitisation in the rapidly transforming city of Karachi.

Rajani and Malkani are co-founders of the Karachi LaJamia, an anti-institution seeking to politicise art education and explore new radical pedagogies and art practices. With Abeera Kamran, they also have a collaborative publishing practice called Exhausted Geographies.

Rajani is Assistant Professor in the Liberal Arts Programme at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi, and Malkani is Assistant Professor of Practice in the Communication and Design Department, Habib University, Karachi.

Rajani holds a BA (Hons) in the History of Art from the University of Cambridge (2009) and an MA in Critical and Curatorial Studies from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver (2013). Malkani received her BA in Studio Art from Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, US (2009) and an MA in Contemporary Art Theory from Goldsmiths, University of London (2013). Both artists were born in Karachi, Rajani in 1987 and Malkani in 1986. They continue to live and work in the city.

SAF participation:
Artistic Innovation and Collective Practice - Karachi in the 90's and Beyond (2019)

Related Content

Rajani, Shahana and Malkani, Zahra

Artistic Innovation and Collective Practice: Karachi in the 1990s and Beyond

In parallel to the show Bani Abidi: Funland at Sharjah Art Foundation, this one-day convening expands on the commission Very Very Sweet Medina, which features artistic and archival contributions by Bani Abidi, Roohi Ahmed, David Alesworth, Shilpa Gupta, Saba Iqbal, Durriya Kazi, Alia Hasan Khan, Naiza Khan, Huma Mulji, Asma Mundrawala, Adeela Suleman and Sohail Zuberi.