Dr Naveen Hyder’s exhibition ‘Thread by Thread: She Gathers Herself’, held at Lahore’s Alhamra Arts Council during this year’s Faiz Festival, functioned as an intricate convergence of science and art. Curated by Rohma Khan, the exhibition demonstrated how Hyder’s immaculate embroidered practice translates botanical knowledge into visual form, weaving together concerns of ecological fragility, endangered flora and the lived realities of displaced communities.

Using discarded fabrics gathered from everyday life, she assembles layered compositions and then embroiders on to these surfaces, transforming fragments of waste into tactile narratives that reinforce her conceptual theme. Hyder’s practice compels viewers — who are often overwhelmed by the rush of contemporary life — to slow down, breathe and reconnect with the traditional practice of embroidery, a once familiar pastime inherited from mothers and grandmothers.

Hyder’s art speaks in layered narratives and hidden messages, carrying a story waiting to be uncovered. The practice relates closely to her lived experiences — most notably to a defining moment during a trek in the Hindu Kush mountain range, when relentless rain left her stranded for three days between two passes, transforming an unforeseen pause into a time of reflection and collaborative making.

During this interval, she, along with the porters and companions, created a mural using cloth patches and embroidery that became a visual chronicle of the Kalasha people, reflecting environmental loss, deforestation, fragile habitation and the daily labour of gathering wood.

An exhibition in Lahore wove botanical knowledge with narratives of displacement, environmental fragility and shared histories

An exhibition in Lahore wove botanical knowledge with narratives of displacement, environmental fragility and shared histories

Recurring natural symbols — birds and forest imagery — evoke both belonging and vulnerability, while the white crow operates as a quiet metaphor for rarity, omens and displacement within this changing landscape. Uneven inscriptions and collaboratively made elements reinforce the spontaneity of the work, serving as evidence of shared authorship and lived time.

Interestingly, couplets written by Allama Iqbal appear in the work, likely inscribed by the porters during Hyder’s trek, their slight inaccuracies preserving the immediacy of the moment. The final textile piece titled The White Crow Knows the Hindukush ultimately unfolds like a stitched, horizontal landscape of memory.

The Poppy Knows and Quietly She Persists narrates the enduring spirit of Palestine through an image of the poppy flower, made with upcycled fabric and embroidery, depicting a delicately embroidered central bloom that is visibly fractured by loose trailing thread. The layered pastels suggest accumulated histories marked by scars, while the borders created with mismatched fabric evoke the plight of displaced Palestinians.

She Left Only Pollen and a Promise presents the cistanche tubulosa flower as a symbol of human vulnerability, quiet resilience, erosion and survival in Yemen. The act of stitching becomes a metaphor for repair — an attempt to mend what landscape and history have broken.

A marvellous use of upcycled and layered fabric, combined with an immaculate embroidery process, is evident in Unclaimed Like a Seed Flung by Wind. The work reflects the refugee experience. A crossed legged child holding a small piece of roti brings a stark immediacy to the narrative. The child’s eyes seem to carry untold stories of loss, hunger and survival. A running stitch is used to suggest the strands of hair. The folds of the cloth are carefully constructed, yet intentionally left with loose fabric, conveying vulnerability alongside resilience.

Crowned by What He Endured is another poignant attempt to challenge hierarchy by portraying a poor child from Bangladesh turbaned as a prince — a status the artist imagines he may attain in the hereafter. Using discarded fabric, she constructs the turban as though it were a richly adorned crown, confronting assumptions about class, worth and representation. The expression in his eyes, heightened by subtle contrasts of light and shadow, evokes both suffering and quiet dignity. The figurative works embody a painterly quality, with stitches functioning as expressive brushstrokes.

Pulsing Like a Buried Heartbeat reflects vulnerability and endangered flora through the image of the rafflesia, a flower known for its pungent scent and large size. Loose threads spread across the surface like roots, suggesting decay and the stress of a threatened ecosystem. The borders imply nature being framed and controlled by human intervention. The iconic enlargement of the subject matter recalls the artistic style of Andy Warhol.

A similar approach is evident in Threads of Gold — Borderless, Like Memory, where the endangered saffron flower of Kashmir (crocus sativus) is rendered with upcycled fabric. The work alludes both to the region’s fragile ecology and to the long struggle endured by its people, intertwining botanical delicacy with histories of resilience.

‘Thread by Thread: She Gathers Herself’ was on display during the Faiz Festival at the Alhamra Arts Council, Lahore, from February 13-15, 2026

The writer is an art critic, fine artist and educationist based in Lahore. She can be reached at ayeshamajeed2015@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, EOS, March 19th, 2026

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