At midnight on 14 August 1947, Pakistan and India became two separate and independent nations after nearly a century under the rule of the British Raj. Across Pakistan and its diaspora, citizens wear the national colours of green and white to take part in anniversary festivities. Pakistani artist Imran Qureshi, who is based in Lahore, has always responded to Pakistan’s deep-rooted artistic traditions and history, such as the discipline of miniature painting—popular in the Mughal courts of the sixteenth century. He also addresses contemporary Pakistan and its ambivalent state: red recurs as a symbol of death, bloodshed and violence, while motifs of flowers represent the continuation of hope. This work, Love Me, Love Me Not, reflects this duality. The work was included in the artist’s recent exhibition at Galerie Thaddeus Ropac, Paris, exploring on metaphors in the poems of Faiz Ahmed Faiz.
