Mahwish Chishty's Drone Art at the Imperial War Museum
The ambiguity of art has always made it a useful means of by-passing censors and official narratives. The curators of the IWM Contemporary series at IWM London, currently showing the drone art paintings of Pakistani-born artist, US-based, Mahwish Chishty, are taking advantage of this.
The programme of temporary exhibitions has previously featured artwork by Rosalind Nashashibi, Edward Barber, Nick Danziger and Omer Fast, covering topics from Gaza to the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). In her first solo exhibition outside of the US, Mahwish Chishty has used painting to reimagine the deadly drones that hover over parts of Pakistan. She uses paint on paper, wood and models to impose traditional Afghani/Pakistani folk art on the weapons. The drones are represented with bright colours, intricate motifs, lettering and patterns drawn from the tradition of truck art, used by haulage truck drivers in Afghanistan and Pakistan to beautify and personalise their vehicles. The effect has been described as “resistance through beauty.” Whilst not overtly political, the ‘capture’ and reclaiming of the drones with traditional art draws viewers to consider the tradition, history and humanity of the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan – specifically, the tribal North-West region whose populations are terrorised by the US-lead drone assassination programme.
It was after a visit to Pakistan in 2011 that Chishty began her drone art series to raise a discussion on the cultural, psychological and physical impact of the foreign drones that hover over areas of Pakistan. Despite official claims of the “surgical precision” of drones, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism estimates that, since 2004, the civilian death toll in Pakistan is between 424-966.
The psychological impact is far wider, as noted by a joint study of the law schools of New York University (NYU) and Stanford University, with reports of anticipatory anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and insomnia prevalent amongst affected populations. The report also highlights the social and cultural impact of the drones – with communities less likely to gather for traditional events, such as jirgas and, even, wedding and funerals, in fear of a strike.
Mahwish Chishty said, in a recent talk at the Imperial War Museum, that her drone series came from noting that there was a disparity between available images of drones and the impact they were having on her home country. Her versions of drones do reveal the menace of drones – falling Hellfire missiles are depicted in one painting. However, largely, the menace is in the symbols and hints in the paintings, the eyes that look back at the viewer, the newspaper clippings that form a backdrop, the silhouette cast by a hanging model. Chishty has been meticulous not only in using her training in traditional miniature painting but also in depicting the different models of drone, from the RQ-170 or “The Beast of Kandahar” to the MQ-9 with their Hellfire missiles, Reapers and Predators. Recognising the silhouette of the drones, she said, is a means of survival for people in parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan. The exhibition is timely for the British public, as the British government has escalated its own drone programme in Syria – opening itself to accusations of murder. Britain has also played an integral role in the US’ wider global assassination programme. As well as lending its operators to the US and ‘inevitably’ providing intelligence for the US’ assassination programme, it has been revealed that the Menwith Hill base used by the US in North Yorkshire, UK, is used to collect satellite intelligence for the drone programme.
Remotely operated lethal drones are increasingly seen as a PR friendly form of warfare. Without the direct risk to pilots or operators, governments find they can get away with more. Mahwish Chishty’s drone art reminds us that there are human beings trying to live under the drones.
SHAH JAHAN
The Mahwish Chishty drone art exhibition is running at the Imperial War Museum to 19th March 2017.
