Gallery 39K, 2007 — 2016

Established in 2007, Gallery 39K was founded by Abdullah Qureshi, with Rakhshanda Atawar and Rubab Uppal, as an alternative and critical space in Lahore.

Recognizing a lack of opportunities for emerging artists in Pakistan and platforms that allowed experimental and risk-taking within art-making, from 2007 - 2016, the program remained broad and interdisciplinary through curated exhibitions, residencies, and artist-led workshops and talks. Working with local and international artists, many of these activities challenged ways of approaching art in the country by presenting a range of practitioners and addressing critical social issues, such as gender, urbanization, queer politics, and religious and ethnic minorities.

List of Exhibitions: Untitled, 2016. Artists: Rakhshanda Atawar, Abdullah Qureshi, and Rubab Uppal / Imagined Measures, curated by Aziz Sohail, 2016. Artist: George Awde / AKS, 2016 – Artists: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Vincenzo Floramo / Memoirs, 2016 – Artists: Rabia Ajaz and Farhat Ali / Affirm Connection, 2015 – Artist: RM Naeem / The Tribal Dance, 2015 – Artists: Aimen Zahid, Aisha Khan, Azka Syed, Purva Mehak, and Hassan Sheikh / Land Pictures, 2015 – Artist: Ali Sultan / Face to Face, 2015 – Artist: Ghaffar Afridi / Who Are You?, 2015 – Artist: Faseeh Saleem / No Man’s Land, curated by Aziz Sohail, 2015 – Organized as a collateral event of Lahore Literary Festival. Artists: Bani Abidi, Nurjahan Akhlaq, Naiza Khan, Salman Toor, Farida Batool, Fazal Rizvi, Zahid Mayo, Rohail Ghouri, Rabbiya Abdullah & Nussebah Osman / Kaleidoscope, 2015 – Artists: Aliza Ali, Mudassar Ahmed Dar, Sarah Khalid, Aisha Khan, Purva Mehak, Azka Shah, Hassan Sheikh, and Aimen Zahid / The Shrine, 2015 – Artist: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto / 39K: Open Studio, 2014 – Artists: Rakhshanda Atawar, Rubab Uppal and Abdullah Qureshi, with Malik Zayed Awan, Sidra Asim, Zahra Asim, Faseeh Saleem, Aimen Sheikh, Hassan Sheikh, Ali Sultan and Nael Uppal / Void, 2014 - Organized in conjunction with the 5th International THAAP Conference. Artists: Rabi Georges and Abdullah Qureshi / Untitled, 2014 – Artists: Hammad Aslam and Sarah Khalid / Untitled, 2014 – Artists: Safdar Ali and Sidra Ashraf / Untitled, 2014 – Artist: Ali Sultan / Narratives Untold, 2014 – Artists: Muneeb Aaqib & Madiha Mehreen / Size and scale are not the same…, DUCTAC, Dubai, 2014 – a Gallery 39K collaboration with NM Art Gallery. Artists: Rabia Ajaz, Rakhshanda Atawar, Zahra Jewanjee, Julius John, Aleem Dad Khan, Abdullah Qureshi, Rabbania Shirjeel and Imrana Tanveer / Untitled, 2014 – Artists: Umar Nawaz, Hassan Sheikh and Abdullah Qureshi / The veil and the flow, 2013 – Works by students of the NCBA&E Fine Art Department / Drawing from the Land, 2013 – Organized in conjunction with the 4th International THAAP Conference. Artists: Rabia Ajaz, Habib Akram, Mehri Imani, Julius John, Fazal Rizvi, Jeeti Singh, Rabbania Shirjeel and Imrana Tanveer / Untitled, 2013 - Artist: Aleem Dad Khan / Untitled, 2013 - Artist: Rukhe Neelofar Zaidi / Memoirs of the Other, 2013 - Artist: Kristian Evju / The Door, 2013 – Artists: Muneeb Aaqib, Rabbia Asif, Rakhshanda Atawar, Maryam Baber, Umair Ghani, Irfan Ahmad Khan, Waheed Latif, Purva Mehak, Madiha Mehreen, Suleman Naseer, Abdullah Qureshi, Dr. Khaleeq ur Rehman, Hassan Sheikh, Rao Shahzad, Rabbania Shirjeel, Sana Yunas, and Aimen Zahid / Untitled, 2012 – Artist: Rakhshanda Atawar / 11/39K, 2012 – Artists: Abdullah Qureshi, Farrukh Adnan, Hassan Sheikh, Irfan Ahmad Khan, Marria Khan, Rabbania Shirjeel, Rabbia Asif, Rakshanda Atawar, Rizwan Ali, Suleman Naseer, and Umair Ghani / Untitled, 2012 – Artists: Amna Gull, Rahmana Masood and Zara Naeem / Zindagi hum bhie hain, 2012 – Artists: Dr. Javed Chawla, Sharjeel Anzar, Shazia Husain, Umair Ghani, Asher Imtiaz, Raj Jalal and Rabbania Shirjeel / Untitled, 2011 – Artists: Rakhshanda Atawar, Tabinda Omar, and Abdullah Qureshi / Overflow, 2010 – Artists: Haider Ali, Uzair Amjad, Rakshanda Atawar, Dur-e-Nayab, Sarah Imran, Julius John, Osama Khan, Minaa Mohsin, Tabinda Omar and Abdullah Qureshi / Coding Decodong, 2009 – Artists: Adnan Ayub, Justyna Borucka, Yahya Ehsan, Javaria Javed, Irfan Khan, Mohsin Khawar, Rakshanda Khan, Suleman Naseer, Fiaz Tariq and Momin Zafar / Shedding Load, 2009 – Artists: Rakshanda Atawar, Zaheer Chaudhary, Sana Horani, Adnan Mirza, Aaminah Niaz, Abdullah Qureshi, Humaira Taj, Mohsin Shafi, and Sarah Zahid / Uncanny, 2009 – Artists: Hamid Alauddin, Rija Asher, Rakhshanda Atawar, Waleed Latif, Abdullah Qureshi, Riqba Raza, Haroon Sheikh, Humaira Taj, and Hurmat Ul Ain / Dislocation, Exploration, and Meaning, co-curated with Yolande Burgin, 2009 – an exhibition of staff and students from Chelsea College of Art and Design, London / Colors of Peace–a collaboration with ALAAP, 2008 / Untitled, 2008 – Artists: Rakhshanda Atawar, Abdullah Qureshi, and Faiqa Tariq / Untitled, 2007 – Artists: Rakshanda Atwar, Abdullah Qureshi, and Rubab Uppal.

In 2016, all public-facing programming was discontinued, re-evaluating mission and focus. Following this process, Shameem Sarfraz Scholarship for Cultural Studies was established, which annually supports one post-graduate student pursuing Cultural Studies at the National College of Arts (NCA), Lahore.

Recipients
Kamil Khan, 2020
Noor Ul Ain Khawaja, 2019
Hina Aziz, 2018