About Art Divvy

In an effort to expand Pakistani art’s global reach, as well as transform local attitudes towards contemporary artFoundation Art Divvy aims to repurpose and conserve Barkat Ali Islamia Hall, Circular Road, Lahore and convert it into a Center for Knowledge a Community Learning Center for highlighting the contributions of Islamic Scholars and contemporary Pakistani and South Asian Scholars to to the fields of science and philosophy to encourage innovation, research and learning.

Divvy Knowledge Center at Barkat Ali Islamia Hall

We envision Divvy Knowledge Center to be a hub for Research, Knowledge, Culture and Innovation. We aim to create a center that shares, forms and expands conversations in the fields of community building, science and innovation and technology in Pakistan. It will be a space for the expansion of culture, science and philosophy and create conversations and progress around issues like climate change, incurable diseases, efficiency, education etc.

Foundation Art Divvy is a registered non-profit organization that partners with institutions to create cultural and educational community and public projects. and film, Foundation Art Divvy provides a platform at an institutional level, locally and internationally to art from Pakistan. It supports and develops large-scale exhibitions of contemporary Pakistani art in public spaces.

Scientist of the month

Ibn Sina

(Ibn Sina (Avicenna) (980 – 1037) Also popularly known as ‘Avicenna’, Ibn Sina was indeed a true polymath with his contributions ranging from medicine, psychology and pharmacology to geology, physics, astronomy, chemistry and philosophy. He was also a poet, an Islamic scholar and a theologian of Iranian origin. By the age of 10, he had memorized the complete Quran.

Foundation Art Divvy

Foundation Art Divvy provides a platform at an institutional level, locally and internationally to the arts from Pakistan in order to expand Pakistani art, culture and narrative’s global and local reach. We ‘divvy up’ and spread contemporary art, culture and narratives, as well as transform local attitudes towards the creative fields. A registered non-profit, Foundation Art Divvy works at an institutional level, through three active public ventures, Art Divvy Exhibitions, Divvy Film Festival and Art Divvy Conversations.

Art Divvy Exhibitions develops large-scale shows of contemporary Pakistani art and culture in public spaces. In 2019, Foundation Art Divvy, with the Pakistan National Council of the Arts, presented Naiza Khan: Manora Field Notes, the inaugural Pavilion of Pakistan at the 58th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. The Foundation organised and curated Sagar Theatre on Queen’s Road at the Plaza Theatre, Lahore, (2020) and I, too, am a part of this history at Fakir Khana Museum (FKM), Lahore (2018), both collateral events to the Lahore Biennale. Before this, the Foundation exhibited Aisha Khalid & Imran Qureshi: Two Wings to Fly, Not One at the National Art Gallery, PNCA, Islamabad (2017), the first museum exhibition in Pakistan of these leading contemporary artists.

In 2020, the Foundation expanded into film by launching Divvy Film Festival, an annual festival hosting independent films by Pakistani filmmakers which is now in its third year and across three major cities. Each evening of the Divvy Film Festival is curated carefully to create an experience for the audience. The films we screen cover a multitude of themes that tap into universally shared experiences and memories. In order to encourage more scholarship on and easy access to contemporary South Asian art practices, Foundation Art Divvy has established Art Divvy Conversations, a series of online recorded conversations with practitioners across South Asia. The objective is to preserve artistic practices and build an accessible primary research archive. The series includes approximately 100 conversations and counting.

Upcoming project at Foundation Art Divvy

Knowledge Base

Did you Know

From the moment a person is born until they die, science plays an important role in their lives. In our daily lives, we use many machines that operate on the basic logic of science.

Concept for the repurposed space

Divvy Knowledge Center at Barkat Ali Islamia Hall
Learning Center for Research, Knowledge, Culture and Innovation

Foundation Art Divvy proposes to convert the building into a library, research space and cultural center. The aim is to create a community space of learning, talks and discussions in Barkat Ali Islamia Hall for scholars and cultural literati to meet, learn and discuss.

Foundation Art Divvy will create a comfortable environment where mentorship, progressive thought, and innovation are encouraged, as well as discovery of the arts, discussions and learnings around literature, philosophy and culture.

The goal is also to highlight the impact of what Muslim and South Asian scholars have contributed to innovation, research and scientific development, in order to provide guidance and goals to students, researchers and interested community members.

This Center is also a means of highlighting the importance of study spaces, of group study, and to revive the idea of Libraries and Cultural centers. It is also a means of building important partnerships with global institutions, local events, centers of knowledge, and global scholars.

Major Goals

Research Centre of math, technology and innovation and philosophy publications and thoughts – with access to Databases of major US, EU, UK and Pakistani institutions and libraries
Meeting point for like minded people to discuss
Research space for developing new ideas and learning – highlighting key topics like sustainability etc.
Center for talks and discussions – where speakers from around the world will be invited to speak about their disciplines and research projects
Building a community and partnerships with institutions, universities and facilities of math, philosophy and science globally
Paying homage to Mr Barkat Ali and the motivation behind the building of the space – plus the role the building played as a space for meetings and gathering during the partition movement.