Erasing Dissident Voices Cover and “Editor’s Note”

The cover of Volume 4.2 (2009) is a composite image designed by Sabiha Imani using a photograph by Fahim Siddiqi. This issue foregrounds the struggle for freedom of expression, documented through multiple histories of resistance. Responding to the violent controversy surrounding an artwork at Shanakht Festival, Niilofur Farrukh notes in the Editor’s Note “Nukta Art examines the layered relationship between institutional power and creative expression”, (pg. 4).

The volume includes essays on and censorship by Zohra Yusuf, Atteqa Ali, and Beena Sarwar, Shazia Zuberi traces the legacy of Tehreek Niswan in theatre while Feica’s political cartoons and Fahim Siddiqi’s photo essay on Karachi’s wall chalkings further illustrate artistic responses to oppression.