Connecting people through art 

Join us for the premier of Four Acts of Recovery  by Shahana Rajani, at MOT in Tokyo on the 28thof April at 5pm and for the conversation between Shahana Rajani and Han Nefkens on the 29th of April at 2pm.

Four Acts of Recovery  is the result of Rajani winning the Han Nefkens Foundation – South Asian Video Art Production Grant 2023, in collaboration with in collaboration with Prameya Art Foundation, Delhi, India; Nottingham Contemporary, UK; Ishara Art Foundation, Dubai, UAE; Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp (M HKA), Belgium and Para Site (Hong Kong).

The new work, Four Acts of Recovery, is a video piece following a fishing family living in the Indus Delta of Pakistan as they use drawing as a means to overcome unprecedented infrastructural violence and climate collapse. Set in a rapidly submerging delta region, the work depicts how coastal communities employ and transform visual expression to create new forms of faith, resistance, and belonging. It explores the emerging trend of mural painting depicting ancestral creeks and shrines, connecting it to the tradition of talismanic depictions in Islamic culture.

This exhibition is part of the newly launched MOT Plus project, a new initiative at MOT, marking the museum’s 30th anniversary in 2025, providing an experimental platform for projects beyond traditional exhibition formats, including performances and screenings.

Shahana Rajani

Born in Karachi, Pakistan, in 1987, Shahana Rajani is an interdisciplinary artist exploring themes of development, militarization, and ecological disruption in Pakistan through visual representation, landscapes, and infrastructure. Her practice is rooted in community-based collaborative research, engaging with histories of dissent and representations that sustain ecological resistance.

She co-founded Karachi LaJamia with Zahra Malkani, an experimental project investigating radical educational practices emerging from struggles over land and water.

For more information: https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/en/exhibitions/MOTPlus-HNF2025/