Bani Abidi, Funland (Karachi Series – II), installation view, Gropius Bau, Berlin, 2019
Bani Abidi: Select works
Experimenter presents a selection of works by Bani Abidi.
Born in 1971, Karachi, Pakistan, and now working between Berlin and Karachi, Bani Abidi uses video and photography to comment upon politics and culture, often through humorous and absurd vignettes. She studied visual art at the National College of Arts in Lahore and at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Installation view, Bani Abidi, The Reassuring Hand Gestures of Big Men, Small, Men, All Men, Suite of 69, 2021
Her work is in collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Guggenheim Museum, New York; The British Museum, London; Tate Modern, London; Sharjah Art Foundation; The Spencer Museum of Art; The Fukuoka Asian Art Museum; The Burger Collection; Devi Arts Foundation, Delhi; Margulies Collection, Miami, amongst several other private and public collections. She was artist in Residence at DAAD Artists Residency, Berlin in 2011–2012.
Installation view, Bani Abidi, The Man Who Talked Until He Disappeared, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, 2021
“Abidi’s works reveal the ways in which identity is constructed by tracking absurd, minor differences that build to the catastrophic effects of majoritarian nationalism and perpetual war. Her critique of political life foregrounds the everyday affects of humor and sorrow, reminding us that we often laugh to keep from crying.”
– Art Agenda Reviews, Bani Abidi’s The Man Who Talked Until He Disappeared, Sadia Shirazi
Installation view, Bani Abidi, Funland, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, 2019
“Abidi’s unexpected protagonists blur the lines between actors and non-actors, scripted and spontaneous moments, exposing the absurd theater of our social fabric. Over twenty years of her career, Abidi has become internationally recognized for her satirical critiques of those who hold power and the many ways they wield it. Drawing inspiration from history, literature, mass media, and current events, Abidi’s practice explores the construction of sociopolitical realities and the impact of these narratives on individual experiences.”
– Albawaba, Sharjah Art Foundation Collaborates on Bani Abidi
Bani Abidi. Portrait by Schokofeh Kamiz.
“My practice draws from a large spectrum of present and past experiences, and I hope to be able to speak to anyone who is interested in those ideas.”
– Ocula, Bani Abidi: What you see in my films is what I know, in Conversation with Federica Bueti
Select Press
Art Review, ArtReview Power 100, Cover by Bani Abidi
Art Review, Exhibitions to See Around the World this Winter
The National, Bani Abidi's ‘Funland’ offers a serious take on life in Karachi
Architectural Digest, Berlin: Bani Abidi’s stirring works make a mark at Berlin’s Gropius Bau Museum