Author: Osman Bari

Link to the film below: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/hphj6vd4o0x4fgnzakdf0/h?dl=0&rlkey=gnryudolqfxcav0aw4llkgkma

The following is the script I have written as a flattening of conversations I’ve had in taxis over the years. Conceived in Urdu, written in Roman Urdu and then translated into English.

For the second part of Unit 03, I’m interested in going beyond the technicalities of learning a language and exploring its narrative qualities. One of the reasons I worked with Urdu in the first place is because I have this insecurity surrounding my lack of fluency in it, and thought it might be interesting to… Continue reading An archetypal taxi ride

What is the relationship between drawing and writing, in the (re)learning of a native language? This project documents the process of (re)learning my native language of Urdu, specifically through ‘khushkhati’ (handwriting). It is a set of drawings based on written exercises — termed ‘basic exercises’ in typical Urdu teaching materials — that are used to… Continue reading Projections 1: بنیادی مشقیں (“Basic Exercises”

Drawing becomes writing? Marks become language? Now practicing how letters join in different forms, and how these then form words.

Ingold’s text, ‘Drawing, writing and calligraphy’ in Lines: A brief history reshaped the way I was approaching my exercises. The line between drawing and writing was ever shifting and blurring. It seemed that one was a prerequisite for another, but is it proficiency that separates drawing from writing? Rather than viewing them in such binary… Continue reading A drawing for writing

Following the initial mark making exercises, the next step is writing the individual (non-ligature-d?) letters of the Urdu alphabet, using the same pen angles and hand movements that were practiced in the first set of exercises. I’m realising just how much of a bodily experience this is — I’m learning another kind of physicality that… Continue reading Marks to Letters

The transition from Unit 2 to Unit 3 has seen me shift my practice more towards language, as an extension of the work I was doing related to my own cultural heritage. In this unit, I’m interested in exploring my mother tongue, Urdu, and specifically my strange proficiency in it. For context, I didn’t learn… Continue reading A Shift to Language