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Dr. Adnan Madani

Adnan is interested in philosophies of globalisation, religious/secular life and intercultural encounter.

Staff details

Dr. Adnan Madani

Position

Lecturer in Visual Cultures

Department

Visual Cultures

Email

a.madani (@gold.ac.uk)

I'm an artist, writer and curator interested in contemporary subjectivities in relation to philosophies of globalization, religious/secular life and intercultural encounter. My  focus is on the work of Jean-Luc Nancy, Wittgenstein, Talal Asad and the ethics of esoteric Islam as developed by Massignon. Other areas of specialisation include contemporary South Asian art and popular urban cultures in Pakistan.
 
My current art practice and research explore the relationship between iconoclasm in Modern art and the destruction of historical objects and sites in contemporary war. I am also involved in collaborative practices, including an ongoing walking/documentation project about invasive species in England and the idea of nature.
 
Currently Teaching:
I'm convening the MA seminar "Postcapitalist Desire", where I'm especially involved in developing participatory and collaborative pedagogical models with the students. I'm also teaching on the BA module "Contemporaneities", where my block looks at re-thinking particularity and universalism after post-colonial theory.
 
Education:
PhD.: Visual Cultures, Goldsmiths, University of London, 2016
MA:  Contemporary Art Theory, Goldsmiths, University of London, 2006
BFA: Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi, 2001
 
Curator:
2016 October "Art Sabka? Pakistani Cinema Reflected", exhibition of 7 major Pakistani artists and their work around popular cinema, FOMMA Gallery, Karachi
 
Selected Art Projects and Exhibitions:
 
Ongoing:  "Invasive Species", multimedia installation and research project with David Alesworth, exploring migration, botany, Linnaean classification and colonial science in the English Landscape.
 
2013  "Extra/Ordinary", Canvas Gallery, Karachi
 
2012 "The Divided Self", Slought, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
 
2009 "The Rising Tide", Mohatta Palace Museum, Karachi
 
2008, Vasl Arts Residency, Lahore
 
2008 "Destination Asia: Flying Over Stereotypes", Elementa Gallery, Dubai
 
2005 "Beyond Borders, Art From Pakistan", National Gallery of Contemporary Art, Mumbai
 
Talks, Conferences and Lectures:
 
2016 December "A Choir of Fictional Voices",  City in Context, Lahore Arts Council, Lahore
 
2016 December "Introducing the Lahore Biennale" with Rashid Rana, Lahore Arts Council, Lahore
 
2016 June "Muslim Subjectivity and Global Art", Visual Cultures Public Programme, Goldsmiths, London
 
2016 April "Performance/Transformations", Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi
 
2014, “Karachi Popped?”, public conversation on Pakistani art and popular culture with David Alesworth and Nada Raza at The Southbank Centre, London

Publications and research outputs

Book

Martinon, Jean-Paul and Madani, Adnan. 2024. Visual Cultures as World-Forming. Berlin: Sternberg Press. ISBN 9783956795374

Book Section

Madani, Adnan. 2022. The Frame as Borderland: Islam, Allegory and the DIstance from Here. In: Saira Ansari, ed. Bani Abidi: The Artist Who. Berlin: Hatje Cantz Verlag, pp. 134-149. ISBN 9783775752886

Madani, Adnan. 2021. Rana Begum's Abstraction. In: Anita Dawood, ed. Rana Begum: Space, Light, Colour. London: Lund Humphries, pp. 163-167. ISBN 9781848225329

Gaur, Meenu and Madani, Adnan. 2020. The Ghost in the Projector: New Pakistani Cinema & its Hauntings. In: Vazira Zamindar and Asad Ali, eds. Love, War & Other Longings: Essays on Cinema in Pakistan. Karachi, Pakistan: Oxford University Press Pakistan, pp. 48-72. ISBN 9780190701857

Article

Madani, Adnan. 2020. On Reman Sadani's "Walkout 1". Jerwood/FVU Awards 2020: Hindsight,

Madani, Adnan. 2018. The frame as borderland: Secular gazes and believing bodies in Bani Abidi’s The Distance From Here (2010). Moving Image Review & Art Journal, 7(2), pp. 236-250. ISSN 2045-6298

Madani, Adnan. 2018. Cloud Memories, Desert Dreams. Hybrid, Journal of Visual Culture, 1(1),

Art Object

Madani, Adnan. 2023. The Gardener and the Terrorist.

Madani, Adnan and Alesworth, David. 2019. Phasmid Project, Fig.1 and Fig.2.

Printed Ephemera

Madani, Adnan. 2020. Terra Nullius.

Professional Activity

Madani, Adnan. 2024. Advisory Board Member, Suleman Annual Grant for Arts (SAGA).

Madani, Adnan. 2023. Member, Board of Studies of the Graduate Programme (MPhil in Art and Design), Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi.

Madani, Adnan. 2022. CHASE selection panel 2022.

Show/Exhibition

Rana, Rashid. 2021. Eart: A Manifesto of Possibilities. In: "Eart: A Manifesto of Possibilities", Manchester, United Kingdom, 1 - 18 July 2021.

Madani, Adnan; Abidi, Bani; Dadi, Iftikhar and Talpur, Mohammad Ali. 2016. Art Sabka?: Pakistani Cinema Reflected. In: "Art Sabka?: Pakistani Cinema Reflected", Foundation for the Museum of Modern Art, Karachi, Pakistan.

Thesis

Madani, Adnan. 2016. Formations of the Contemporary : Islam, Globalization and Art. Doctoral thesis, Goldsmiths, University of London