Prof. Rashid Rana—Dean of the Mariam Dawood School of Visual Arts & Design (MDSVAD) at BNU and UNESCO Chairholder for Inclusion through Art—continues to shape critical discourse in contemporary practice as one of the leading global South Asian artists of his generation. His monumental work, Fractured Moment (2025), stands as a profound meditation on the politics of image-making in times of conflict.
Mobilising the image as both witness and architect of modern-day hostilities, Rana extends his longstanding inquiry into space, temporality, and the dialectics of wholeness and fragmentation. The work navigates the interstices between formalism and documentation, abstraction and testimony, probing tensions between surface and depth, presence and absence, order and rupture. It interrogates the political mechanics underlying trade, power, and violence, offering layered mediations on fractures that—once captured—reveal both the visible and the concealed as they unravel.
International Media Recognition
The magnitude of this achievement is underscored by extraordinary international media attention. Fractured Moment has been prominently featured across leading global platforms, affirming its critical and cultural impact:
This sweeping global recognition affirms Prof. Rana's stature as a visionary practitioner whose work resonates across geographies and histories. A recipient of Pakistan's prestigious Sitara-i-Imtiaz, he has consistently elevated the country's artistic presence on international platforms. The presentation of Fractured Moment at Art Basel Doha represents not only a personal milestone but a landmark achievement for BNU, placing the University—and Pakistan's vibrant art scene—firmly on the global cultural map.
