Mobeen Ansari exhibits his Tapestry of Faiths at NCA Lahore

Mobeen Ansari is a photographer, filmmaker, artist and author based in Islamabad. After completing his BFA degree from the National College of Arts, he started working focusing on telling stories of Pakistan and its diverse people, helping in promoting a positive and poetic image of his country through his work that often doesn’t make it to the mainstream media.

He is currently, having a solo exhibition in at his alma mater titled, Tapestry of Faiths.

In a statement about the event he shared that, “The word that fascinates me the most is tapestry. I noticed that it applies almost everywhere, whether it is tapestry of DNA in a human body, tapestry in quilts and garments, or tapestry of races and cultures in a country.

“This is also the first word that comes to mind if I try to summarize my experience as a photographer in Pakistan, especially having photographed lives, festivities and cultures of many communities and religious minorities. Hence, I saw it fit to title my show as Tapestry of Faiths.”

His interest in documenting the religious diversity of the country through this photojournalism comes from a formative personal experience. A few years before he was born, his father was diagnosed with abdominal tuberculosis, which had reached a critical stage. During the surgery he lost so much blood that he urgently needed two bags of blood, which had to be the exact match. Two of his friends stepped up and gave their blood. One of them was his best friend, Ronald, who happened to be a Christian. This timely blood donation saved his father’s life.

“For years it made me think of how everyone’s blood is the same — regardless of their faith. It made me think of humanity. I wanted to better understand a more ‘plural’ identity I had, as a Pakistani, as a sum of cultures and history that I inherited.”

When he started out working in the field, his knowledge was limited to the superficial understanding of our country’s diversity. It was only with each assignment did he realise the depth and vibrancy of not just the various religions and main stream cultures, but the subcultures as well that make the integral fabric of Pakistan.

As Ansari encapsulates it, “With every step I would discover aspects of the people and their lives which would leave me even more determined to explore further. This journey has enabled me to search my own self as I viewed the human condition.”

“Whether it was witnessing colors of Holi at many Mandirs in Tharparkar or listening to hymns at Sunday mass at Saint Anthony’s church in Lahore or joining in the festivities of Chowmos- at Kalash festival- I have been able to see, capture and celebrate diversity.”

This culminated into his second photography book called White in the Flag, which depicts lives and festivities of religious minorities of Pakistan. Tapestry of Faiths is loosely based on his work that he has covered in detail in his second book, White in the Flag, as well as his photography of different aspects of Islamic faith and historical places of worship.

Mobeen Ansari has published two photography books; ‘Dharkan: The Heartbeat of a Nation’, features portraits of iconic people of Pakistan from all walks of life. His second book, called ‘White in the Flag’ is based on the lives and festivities of religious minorities in Pakistan. In addition to these he has also produced two silent films; ‘Hellhole’, which is a black and white short film, based on the life of a sanitation worker, and ‘Lady of the Emerald Scarf’, which is based on the life of Aziza, a carpet maker in Hunza.

He has an impressive list of awards under this belt including; ‘’Excellence in Photography Award from Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid International Photography Award, Dubai, UAE’’, 2019- awarded as one of the world’s leading photojournalists at Xposure International Photography Festival, 2019- Best Short Documentary’ nomination at NYC Independent Film Festival, 2017- Shield for ‘Esteemed Keynote Speaker’ at AISEC’s YouthSpeak at GIKI, 2017- ‘Best Short Film (non-fiction) for ‘Hellhole’, Pakistan Calling Film Festival, 2016- Shield of Chief of Army Staff, Pakistan, 2016.

The exhibition is open to public till 30 September.

Originally published at https://pk.mashable.com on September 27, 2021.