Concept
Rooted in ancient knowledge and driven by predictive futurism, a meditation on Earth’s living systems and our shared ecological futures.
CommonSky is an immersive exhibition conceived by hybrid artist and curator Faisal Anwar during his Labverde Residency in the Amazon rainforest, Brazil, in 2019. The project brings together ecological and environmental data with artistic expression to reimagine our relationship with Earth’s living systems.
Inspired by ancestral knowledge systems and informed by scientific research, the works reflect on the fragile balance between humans and the natural world. Anwar creates spaces of wonder, contemplation, and poetic encounter — making visible the unseen forces of climate change and the delicate interconnections of our shared ecology.
Five works.
One living system
Azimuth of Time
Real-Time Immersive Interactive Installation
Astrolabe 2.0 : A Kinetic Sculpture Responding
to the Azimuth of Time
Lines That No Longer Hold
Digital Prints, LED Lightbox Frames
Vanishing [Path]
Real-Time Immersive Interactive Installation
Nest [ ]
A Kinetic Sculptural Installation
Funded by OAC, Media Artists
Creation Projects program, 2024
Sep 10 – Dec 13, 2025
South Asia Institute, Chicago
Feb 10 – March 10, 2026
White Wall Gallery, Lahore
How do we live, remember, and imagine futures together in a time of profound environmental change?
Partner Scientists and Collaborating Institutions
Joe Siegrist, President/CEO, Purple Martin Conservation Association
Dr. Mario Cohn-Haft, National Amazonian Research Institute
Dr. Erika Hingst Zaher, Butantan institute
Dr. Loren Buck, Northern Arizona University
Dr. Kevin Fraser, University of Manitoba
Dr. Jason Fischer, Disney Animals Science and Environment
Team
Debashis Sinha, Sound Designer
William D. Nelsen, Fabricator, Shop Time Studios
Gozde Altunbula, Muzammal Ahmad, Creative Coders
Acknowledgements
With sincere gratitude for the continued support and to all who have contributed in many ways to make this work possible.
Zulfikar Hirji, DPhil (Oxford)
Associate Professor, York University
Ruba Kana’an, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Islamic Art and Architecture Associate Chair, Department of Visual Studies
Tazeen Qayyum
Visual artist, co-founder Art Address
Bita Pourvash
Associate Curator, Aga Khan Museum, Toronto
Adam Harris Levine
Associate Curator, European Art, Art Gallery of Ontario
Isaac Caballero
Independent Technologist
Funded by OAC, Media Artists
Creation Projects program, 2024
