ABSTRACT
In 2013, Shahzia Sikander was invited by the Sharjah Art Foundation in the United Arab Emirates to create a work of art for the 11th Sharjah Biennale, Re:emerge, Towards a New Cultural Cartography. As one of the participants, Sikander's creative process led to the complex and monumental work Parallax. Parallax embodies power and conflict but, fundamentally, omission and loss and the distance between the real and the imagined. The interdisciplinary and collaborative thrust of Parallax is its unique template, its DNA. Parallax investigates the blurred boundaries between fiction and nonfiction, storytelling and historical record, calling into question issues around redaction, the perception of authority, and independence. A parallax is created when the work enters the space of time through the dimension of sound. The uncertainty inherent in nature, in water, wind, natural calamities and weather is a foil to the constantly moving and changing imagery of Parallax.
