This catalogue was produced for the exhibition 'The Emperor's New Clothes: Dress, Politics and Identity in Contemporary Pakistan' held at Talwar Galllery, Jun-Sep 2009.

'Clothes, fabric, uniforms, and outfits play important roles for some Pakistani artists offering multifaceted views of their society. The international mass media often portrays Pakistanis in military dress or veiled from head to toe. Pakistani artists today are excavating the complexity of their nation through interrogating and creating layered artworks that adopts an intricately woven visual vocabulary, examining and exploring the politics and society of Pakistan through dress, material, and clothing.

Some works include body armor evoking a protective sensibility of women in an immensely male-dominated society. While others incorporate softer fabric that offers a similar defense; conversely, a lightweight, smooth textile can become a heavy and confining prison. Clothing is symbolic in these artworks; it is a loaded sign associated with distressing societal conditions and current events. It can also talk about journeys and the intricacy of how ideas and items travel in the globalized world. And outfits are linked to the naked body underneath through an unexpected relationship of what should be inside versus outside, visible versus invisible.' (Curator's note, The Emperor's New Clothes)

The catalogue can be downloaded from Talwar Gallery's website: http://www.talwargallery.com/