Commune Artist Colony

Commune Artist Colony
Guiding motto: Unity-Faith-Passion
Interactive map of Commune Artist Colony
AddressMiskeen Gali, Old Queens Road, City Railway Colony
LocationKarachi, Sindh, Pakistan
Coordinates24°50′47″N 67°0′16″E / 24.84639°N 67.00444°E / 24.84639; 67.00444
TypeArtist colony, exhibition space, design studios

Commune Artist Colony is a creative space located in the City Railway Colony neighbourhood of Karachi, Pakistan. Founded in 2004 by fashion designer and artist Yousuf Bashir Qureshi, the commune is housed in a cluster of former warehouses on Miskeen Gali, off Old Queens Road. It functions as an atelier, exhibition venue, design studio complex, and community gathering space for practitioners of visual and performing arts. Its guiding motto is "Unity–Faith–Passion".

Location and setting

The commune is situated within the City Railway Colony, a neighbourhood in Saddar Town, Karachi South, south of Karachi City railway station and adjacent to I. I. Chundrigar Road. It occupies a cluster of repurposed industrial warehouses on Miskeen Gali, near the MagnifiScience Centre. Despite its central location close to Karachi's main business district, the surrounding neighbourhood is characterised by limited infrastructure and irregular public services. The commune is noted as one of the area's principal cultural landmarks, alongside the Al Nadi Al Burhani Sports Complex.

Mission and activities

The commune's purpose is the promotion of visual and performing arts and the strengthening of the artist community in Karachi and beyond. It serves as an alternative exhibition and performance space and as a platform for dialogue between the arts and the wider community, including the corporate sector. Interactive studios, exhibitions, and performances are regular features of the programme.

The compound houses multiple studio spaces, including facilities for painting, photography, fashion design, and craft production. The compound's walls also feature painted murals and graffiti, making it a site of street art within the surrounding neighbourhood. It is also home to Sanat Initiative, a contemporary art space founded by Abid Aziz Merchant that relocated to the commune in 2019 from its former premises in Clifton, occupying over 6,000 square feet of exhibition space. Sanat programmes regular exhibitions, artist residencies, publications, and curatorial projects.

Since its establishment, there were solo and group exhibitions, live musical performances, fashion presentations, artist residencies, and public talks hosted at the commune. Documented exhibitions include the Revelations series by painter Adil Akhtar, comprising seven acrylic paintings on themes of Islamic history and philosophy, which opened in April 2012 and Asahi, an exhibition of Japanese prints presented the same year. The commune has also hosted travelling international exhibitions, among them Arrival City/Seeking Home: The Afghan Narrative, presented in partnership with the Goethe-Institut in 2019. The commune has also served as a venue for live music.

During the 2010 Pakistan floods, portions of the commune were temporarily repurposed as a disaster relief hub, with warehouse space converted for the storage of food, medical supplies, and water purification equipment, and the venue used to auction donated artworks in support of flood relief.

References

  1. ↑ Fatima, Fizza (2011). "Promoting Coexistence Between Diverse Ethnic Groups Through Inclusive Public Spaces" (Thesis Bachelor of Architecture). Addressing the Cultural Diversity in Karachi. Karachi: Department Architecture and Planning NED University of Engineering and Technology: 37. Retrieved 2 April 2026.
  2. ↑ "Yousuf Bashir Qureshi". Greenbelt Festival. 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Commune Artist Colony – Karachi Art Directory". Karachi Biennale Trust. Retrieved 2 April 2026.
  4. ↑ Zuberi, Shehreen; Zahid, Uswah (20 June 2022). "Pakistani, British designers create costumes to celebrate diversity, culture". geo.tv. Geo News. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  5. 1 2 Khan, Nimra (23 June 2019). "Exhibition: Story of Displacement". dawn.com. Dawn. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  6. 1 2 Datta, Anil (9 June 2019). "A peep into immigrant phenomenon". thenews.com.pk. The News International. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  7. ↑ Qamar, Saadia; Asif, Haseeb (25 November 2012). "Being YBQ". tribune.com.pk. The Express Tribune. Retrieved 2 April 2026.
  8. ↑ White, Allison (May 2009). "On Location: Karachi - Cultural Safe Haven". ArtAsiaPacific. 63 (1). Hong Kong. Retrieved 6 April 2026.
  9. ↑ Zuberi, Nadeem (26 September 2019). "In conversation with the man behind Sanat art gallery". The News International. Retrieved 2 April 2026.
  10. ↑ "Asahi art exhibition opens at the Commune". dawn.com. Dawn. 12 April 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2026.
  11. ↑ Salman, Peerzada (28 April 2012). "Revelations opens at Commune Artist Colony". dawn.com. Dawn. Retrieved 2 April 2026.
  12. ↑ Khan, Sania Ahmed (11 December 2019). "Retro Vibes with In Time Band at Commune Artist Colony". youlinmagazine.com. Youlin Magazine. Retrieved 2 April 2026.