Lala Rukh studied art at Punjab University, Lahore, Pakistan (MFA) and University of Chicago, USA (MFA). She taught for 30 years at Punjab University, Department of Fine Art and at the National College of Arts, Lahore where she set up the MA (Hons) Visual Art Program in 2000. Rukh also trained in Islamic calligraphy and studied musical traditions from across the Indian subcontinent. She was actively engaged in archiving the All Pakistan Music Conference, which was initiated by her father, Hayat Ahmad Khan, in 1959. Rukh is primarily known for her drawings and print-based works, which reflect the patterns of both calligraphy and music. But she is equally recognized for her roles as an educator and activist for women’s rights. Beginning in the Zia regime (1977-1988), which was a particularly hostile one towards women, Rukh was a vocal member of the Women’s Action Forum. Her commitment to the disenfranchised never abated throughout her long career. Rukh’s shows include LISTE – Art Fair Basel 2017, Basel, Switzerland; “sagar,” Grey Noise, Dubai, UAE; “For an Image, Faster Than Light,” curated by Bose Krishnamachari, Yinchuan Biennial, Yinchuan, China; “but even if I cannot see the sun,” Grey Noise, Dubai, UAE; “The past, the present, the possible,” curated by Eungie Joo, Sharjah Biennial 12, Sharjah, UAE; and Documenta 14 in Athens, Greece and Kassel, Germany.
Hundreds of lawyers call out in unison for the independence of the judiciary under General Pervez Musharraf. Recorded during demonstrations in Lahore and Islamabad, the voices heard in this sound piece from 2008 (the title translates as “Dawn of Hope” in English) eulogize the struggle of the lawyers themselves, of women’s organizations, the media and student groups. Waves of urban sound succeed one another: morning rain and bird calls move into slogans and songs, ending in a classical ragga piece, upbeat and akin to a dance, performed by singer Sarah Zaman, an active participant in the demonstrations. As Rukh wrote to a friend at the time of the lawyers’ protests, which began in 2007, “This movement has truly captured the imagination of the people. It has given rise to poetry and graphics, slogans and slogan leaders who can carry on adlibbing nonstop for 15-20 minutes. One slogan leader is a woman lawyer who when she starts walks backwards, facing the demonstrators, and never falters either in her step or the rhythm of the slogans."
