A Sound Work by Lala Rukh: Subh-e-Umeed

Subh-e-Umeed marks the first exhibition on the West Coast of work by Pakistani artist and activist Lala Rukh (1948–2017). A sonic archive of a morning in Lahore (the artist’s birthplace) during Pakistan’s politically fraught Lawyer Movement, Subh-e-Umeed begins with birdsong at daybreak; as a crowd gathers to protest outside the city’s High Court, the sound of marching and chanted slogans builds, ending with strands of Hindustani classical music and vocals by Sarah Zaman.

“Lala Rukh’s practice regularly engaged with music and recordings. In this work that comes together with her rigorous exploration of inventive, delicate forms of notation to record changes over time,” says exhibition curator Padma Dorje Maitland, the Malavalli Family Foundation Associate Curator of the Art of the Indian Subcontinent at the Asian Art Museum. While Subh-e-Umeed is unique as a sound work, it offers a fitting introduction to this influential and dedicated advocate for women’s rights, says Maitland, “inviting audiences into the feeling of hope on the cusp of change.”

Included with General Admission. 

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  About the Artist

  Lala Rukh studied art at Punjab University, Lahore, Pakistan (MFA) and University of Chicago, USA (MFA). She taught for 30 years at Punjab University, Department of Fine Art and the National College of Arts where she set up the MA(Hons) Visual Art Program in the year 2000. One of the foremost feminist activist artists of South Asia, Lala Rukh devoted her time after retiring from teaching to her studio in Lahore and to activism. Her work has been exhibited in solo and group shows worldwide.