an Interview with Mohammad Uzair Akram… [FAQ’s]

Frequently Asked Questions [FAQ]
1. Q: What is your name sir? A: My name is Mohammad Uzair Akram.
2. Q: Your date and time of birth? A: August 29, 1979 [22:45 GMT + 5]
3. Q: Do you believe in Zodiac Signs and their relevance to our lives? A: Yes I do, just like I believe in the power and significance of alphabets and numbers.
4. Q: What else do you believe in sir?
A: Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Peace and Love.
5. Q: Would you label yourself as a bohemian sir? A: I believe labels are for jam jars and prescribed medications.
6. Q: Are you a non-conformist? A rebel without a cause? A man with a secret agenda? A: Can you please curtail your excitement and stick to the format of civilized conversations? I‟m here to answer your questions, one question at a time. If you‟re short on time, perhaps we can schedule another interview at a mutually convenient time…? “NO COMMENT, next question please.”
7. Q: What irritates you sir? A: Verbalization of unsolicited advice and opinions from friends, family and strangers. Anyone who tries to make my personal life their business. My Facebook profile is „public‟… I choose to share certain information with the rest of the world. Some matters, however, specially pillow talk between me and my one and only wife; Kanwal Anjum or between myself and Zoey Emaan Akram; my four year old daughter are private matters that I don‟t even disclose to my family and my wife has been requested to maintain the same degree of privacy.
8. Q: What brings you to Aga Khan University Hospital this time? A: I am a diagnosed bi-polar; sleep deprivation over a period of five days and nights like last month [April 2013] has brought me once again to AKUH in the first week of [May 2013].
9. Q: Was force used to bring you to AKUH? If yes, can you describe force[s]? A: Force[s] is always a part of the assistance process that requires my immediate presence at AKUH psychiatric ward C ~ 0. These include but are not limited to:
i. Intellectual
ii. Emotional
iii. Verbal
iv. Physical
v. Cosmic
vi. Cross Dimensional
vii. Parallel Universal
10. Q: What is your current profession sir? A: I am the Chief Imagineering Officer at UECHO est. July 1st 2002, Karachi, Pakistan.
11. Q: What‟s your stance on piracy and the illegal distribution/duplication of art and music? A: I would humbly urge all of humanity to respect the artist[s] and their art[s] and say NO to piracy.
12. Q: Can u describe your physical state with reference to the injuries you have been receiving since April 2013? A: I received a severe blow from a rock to my left temporal lobe in April 2013 and some blows to my back and head in May 2013. This just means that I suffer from temporary physical shakes of my hands, an acute case of sciatica that requires me to use a walker/crutch when I walk and frequent swinging of moods as I have been a diagnosed bi-polar since early childhood. Having said that I am currently at AKUH, ward C ~ 0 where I am recuperating and receiving treatment [counseling/physiotherapy/medical assistance].
13. Q: How would you rate your experience at AKUH, Karachi, Pakistan? A: ******* [seven star experience]
14. Q: Can u identify the „unknown personnel‟ you speak of that have been victims of your physical abuse since the age of 3? A: Mr. Mohammad Uzair Akram [myself], Mr. Rizwan Ahmed Malik [my best friend], Mr. Mohammad Ejaz [my driver since early childhood], Mr. Parvez Akram [my father], Ms. Zaira Akram [my sister], Mrs. Anjum Parvez [My Mother] & Lastly Mr. Riaz [my man servant since the last 9 years] not to mention the two strangers I‟ve beaten to a pulp when they violated the basic human rights of my female friends back when I was in college.
15. Q: What is your nationality sir? A: I was born in Karachi, Pakistan. I have a Pakistani Passport.
16. Q: You look scary as hell sir, with all due respect, how do we know Mohammad Uzair Akram is NOT a terrorist? A: My five year multiple entry United States Visa on my current passport that has been through clearance by the CIA and FBI and other agencies should take care of your concerns.
17. Q: What are your religious views sir? A: I believe in GOD, and whilst my passport states I‟m a Muslim, I believe Nature is my Religion and the Earth is my Temple.
18. Q: With the death of Human Consciousness in the moment we all know as „NOW‟, and the global gang-rape of humanity by humanity itself; are you under the banner of UECHO proposing a solution? A: I seek to silently inspire, NOT dictate. I agree that the pen is mightier than the sword, however, a picture is worth a thousand words is something I‟ve learnt over the last 18 years of my formal and informal art and design education. I believe that whilst money pays our bills, it‟s love that makes the world go round. UECHO has been working on „The Greatest Love Story nEVER Told ~ a casual stroll through tHIS cosmos as seen through the art of Mohammad Uzair Akram – a slideshow of the last 18 years of Mohammad Uzair Akram‟s work accompanied by a collection of 33 songs that have been echoing in tHIS life… The same slideshow shall be shared over the internet with a global audience as soon as we can work out the „creative commons licenses‟ to use the music by the various artists.
19. Q: Can you elaborate on „The Greatest Love Story nEVER Told…‟ by telling us a little bit more about the female lead „HEeR‟? A: It‟s a project I‟ve been working on since January 1st, 2002 and just finished on May 9, 2013. It started off as a painting on Christmas eve, 2005 that got finished in April 2013 when the last „stroke‟ was added. This painting inspired a letter, a slideshow, a series of short films, a broadway musical and a feature length film that I shall be working on the production of in the near future. HEeR aka. My first wife from Christmas Eve 2005; is nothing more than a figment of my own imagination; my inner female… She is, however, nonetheless tHIS leading lady in „The Greatest Love Story Never Told…‟ an original story inspired by the true life events of Mohammad Uzair Akram. She is the faceless woman in the central sphere of my drawing „Omniverse‟ and the „blue, pink and purple‟ circle in the painting titled „The
Greatest Love Story nEVER Told…‟ HEeR is also the female that stars with me in all my paintings and one sculpture that fall under the name of „God‟s Machinery I ~ X‟.
20. Q: When are u going to share this inspiring work with the rest of the world? A: When I‟m ready to.
21. Q: Any Launch Date/Venue/Party planned? A: No comments…
22. Q: What‟s your favorite non-original quote? A: “Revenge is a dish best served Ice Cold…” ~ source unknown
23. Q: Do you have difficulty in forgiving and forgetting? A: No issues forgiving, I forgive myself every night so that the God I believe in can forgive me as well. My photographic memory [a blessing and a curse] on the other hand doesn‟t permit me to forget anything barring a few moments of life that I believe are the „bad sectors in my memory‟s hard disk.
24. Q: What‟s your favorite original quote? A: “Life is like a film; you laugh when it‟s funny; cry when it‟s sad; close your eyes when it gets scary, express awe when it‟s cute. You touch yourself during the make out scenes and then the credits roll …” ~ Mohammad Uzair Akram
25. Q: Do you have regrets in your life? A: If given a second chance to relive my life any other way; I‟d repeat every act of cruelty and kindness I‟ve expressed in exactly the same way. I hope that answers your question.
26. Q: What is UECHO? A: The first rule of UECHO is that you don‟t talk about UECHO. Enough Said. Thank you for your time and concern[s].
27. Q: What if I need to ask you something else in the future? A: Get an appointment by whatsapp on +923162000008

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Email : iamuecho@gmail.com

 

T2f Open Mic Night ~ Multimedia Performance by Mohammad Uzair Akram

[score: Alone in Kyoto [4:48]~ air vs. Mohammad Uzair Akram’s Spoken Word [4:38]]Somewhere in the midst of the first day of darkness, the source of all energy had a great idea; and it was in this darkness that had been consuming the withins and withouts of universal consciousness since infinium that the first pitch black sphere on the quantum foam of the universe or lack thereof in a moment of self actualization illuminated. It then, with unparalleled optimism began to pass on Its light to any form of creation or lack thereof that it came into contact with, passing on the light of the source throughout this “Omniverse” beyond the frontiers of its own infinite imagination; tHIS is possibly the greatest Love Story Ever Told.

December 8th, 2001, I opened my single person walk through exhibition to the public in the form of my Communication Design Thesis Project at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, here in Karachi Pakistan, titled “Stop the Screaming… Stop the Pain…” I, with unparalleled optimism appealed not only to the compassionate hearts but also the logical minds of humanity to once and for all eternities put an end to Human Rights Violations on Earth.

April 5th, 2013, in this very moment, right here, right now…

In this infinitely dark moment on the timeline of universal consciousness or lack thereof, I appeal once again to the hearts and minds of human consciousness to “Spread the Word and Share the Love”. Love that is the most powerful force in this “Omniverse” that exists not just inside my mind, or on the walls of my art studio, framed as the only piece from my past that I actually never sold as an artist, but the “Omniverse” that is the Only piece of Art by The Only Artist; “The Source”.

[score: “Everybody’s Got to Learn Sometime” ~ Beck vs. Jon Brion [4:36]”
“The Greatest Love Story Never Told…” ~ Aletter to a friend.

Assalaamo Alaikum Aunty,
I’d like to share a short story based onrandom events from my life with reference to the painting I sold to you lastmonth; the vibrant, multicolored Kalma [First Kalma: ‘There is none worthy ofworship except Allah. Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.’]

In the year 2002, one year after I graduatedfrom Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture, I started experimentingwith alcohol and non-chemical drugs(dope), a combination of substance abusethat chemically didn’t suit the chemistry and biology of my brain and I startedmy unaware journey down the road of what the doctors later diagnosed as ‘druginduced schizophrenia’.

Sensitive and highly emotionally expressivesince early childhood, the bi-polar mood swings and the extreme highs and lowsof energy were waves I enjoyed riding on as both the extremes of happiness vs.sadness would fuel my creativity that I started expressing through art.

It was in the midst of this madness, on the eveof Christmas (2005) and on the brink of a mental breakdown; I wrote down the’Kalma’ on that piece that you have. With my deteriorating mental conditionthat was the result of my continued indulgence in substance abuse over thethree years prior, I, in a moment that can best be described as ‘heighteneddementia’ spent five minutes to typographically execute the Arabic andsplattered some paint around it and used markers to encircle the Kalma, placedin the center of the page, in a continuous anti-clockwise stroke of 7 orangecircles. As the paint on the piece was drying, I remember dancing around theroom with excitement engaging in spoken conversations with voices no one couldhear but me; my audience in the room, I realize in hindsight, were merefigments of my own imagination and symptoms of severe psychosis.

What followed was a series of events in adownward spiral of energy accompanied by personal misbehavior and a continuousperiod of twenty-four hours that mark the darkest day and night that my familyand friends live to be witnesses of. This psychotic episode ended the nextmorning when I had to be constrained, sedated through needles and was admittedto the psychiatric ward at AKUH, Karachi, where I spent the next month and ahalf.

I dont think I need to explain to you the extentof emotional turbulence this caused in the lives of my family and friends whowere all forced to deal with the magnitude  of this episode without anyprior knowledge regarding mental health or lack thereof.

I do, however, need to share a glimpse of whatmy mother went through. She went into my bedroom, sat on the bed where Ihad sat the night before painting the Kalma piece i just told you about, andwept to the fading sound of the ambulance that was carrying heryoungest baby’s sedated body tied in ropes to the hospital. It was inthis moment of absolute helplessness and prayers that she glanced at thepainting and read the Kalma. She then picked up a pen that was lying next tothe sketchbook and did what only a mother can; she corrected the typos in theArabic, adding in non-typographic, thin strokes, missing alphabets and ‘zair,zabbar, pesh, etc.’ as can be seen upon a closer examination of the piece…

A decade after this episode; I’m now a husbandto a beautiful, brave woman who has been a pillar of strength from the verybeginning of all this, a true reflection of the virtues that my motherpossesses. My dysfunctional professional career is a testament to the scarsthat took forever to heal through a complex combination of medication andpsychotherapy accompanied by the undying love and support of friends, familyand personal struggle to redeem myself in my own eyes.

In this battle to keep my ship from sinking, Ihave done whatever I could to make ends meet financially. My steady income fromlandscaping in the family business is limited and partially supports ourfinancial requirements; a situation that evolved me from being an ‘artist’ whoobsessed over his own art, who vowed never to sell anything, to a man who hassold every single piece (barring one) he’s ever made in an effort to move upfrom our hand to mouth status in life.

It was the same financial desperation, a fewmonths ago, that obliged me to sell the Kalma piece to you. A combination offinancial desperation and a lack of knowledge about the actual events that makethis the piece that it is today. Knowledge of these events I gained insight toduring my last show that you came to when my mother suggested that I put theKalma piece on display for viewing as she began to tell me the story i justshared with you.

I lied to her when I said that the Kalma piecedidn’t gel in thematically with the rest of the work on display. I couldn’tbring myself to reveal to her that I had in fact sold it just recently(something she didn’t know about).

Aunty, this email, is a humble request toconsider the possibility of returning the piece in your possession which I hadrandomly named ‘The Greatest Love Story Never Told…’ Your gesture of kindnesswill not only add to the historic relevance of this piece in being anexpression of your love for my art and me, but also, will stand as a testamentto my belief that all love stories do in fact have happy endings.

As far as the empty space on your wall isconcerned, it can be filled by not just the abundance of love in your heart,but also by another calligraphic piece that I would like to make just for you.

Much love in advance, MohammadUzair Akram

”
~ Two Hours after reading this ‘Letter’ Nilofer Saeed returned the painting which now hangs in Mohammad Uzair Akram’s personal gallery in Karachi, Pakistan

In Solidarity

On behalf of Mohammad Uzair Akram; UECHO would like to express solemn, silent, solidarity with the universal moment we know best as ‘NOW’. Levis claims “‘NOW’ is ‘OUR’ time…” in a strategic, financially driven, target audience focussed campaign that can be best labelled as ‘EPIC FAIL’ …

With reference to the global gang rape and demise of not just humanity but human consciousness today; Mohammad Uzair Akram would, with unparallelled optimism like to address ‘THE SOURCE’ of all energies in our ‘Omniverse’ …

Top: “Let Heaven Know” ~ by Mohammad Uzair Akram Middle: “The Source” ~ by Mohammad Uzair Akram Bottom: “Now is Our Time” ~ Levis vs. UECHO

“I have a Dream TODAY…” ~ an open letter to The President of The United States of America

“I have a Dream TODAY…” Before you **** over Iran, lets sit down like civilized men and discuss Global Agendas, Economics, Art, the Abstract Notion of LOVE and the Absolute possibility of a brighter future for not just my girls but yours aswell… Our TIME is NOW bro. Keep it Real. Get in Touch…
~ Mohammad Uzair Akram | Communicate: +92300 824 4004
Locate: 252/1, 34th Street, Khayabaan e Iqbal, DHA Phase VIII, Karachi, Pakistan.
Connect: uzairakram@gmail.com | http://www.facebook.com/uecho

© UECHO

“The Greatest Love Story Never Told…”

UECHO proudly presents  “The Greatest Love Story Never Told…”

“tHIS is a love story of universal magnitude that redefines global ideas of ‘real’ world(s). Intricately woven into a complex non-linear design across the 27 dimensions that span the thresholds of not just human minds but also explores the frontiers of universal consciousness that bear witness to the greatest force of all; ‘The Power of Love…’  tHIS is a personal narrative that with unparalleled hopeless optimism seeks to inspire mankind throughout time and space from this day forth…”

~ Mohammad Uzair Akram in a description of his painting titled: ‘The Greatest Love Story Never Told…’ Wednesday, April 03, 2013 [19:42:32]

Disconnected dimensia and thoughts on Love

From a conversation that seemed to surpass all boundaries of logic and sense between
my wife; Kanwal and myself:
Me: “Do you know what you and Pakistan have in common?”
Kanwal: [giving me the questioning look that only she does which translates to ‘Oh dear God… Here we go again!] … “What do we have in common?”
Me: “You both give me a sense of identity and pride and I love you both…!”

Ten minutes later…

Me: “In an attempt to join disconnected dots in life jaan, I’ve got another analogy for you…”
Kanwal: “Lets hear it…”
Me: “… and do you know what your heart and Abdullah Shah Ghazi*’s Mazaar (mausoleum) have in common?”
Kanwal: [trying her best NOT to facepalm herself] “What?”
Me: “They’re both places where abstract notions of love and devotion are found…”
~ End of Conversation ~

Half an hour later I gave Kanwal two photographic pendants designed by Khaula Jamil from her ‘Karachi’ collection that I had yesterday conspired with her friends to preview and purchase before the show; one showcased a cropped Urdu wall chalking of the word ‘Pakistan’ and the other had an image of the saints mausoleum… In that moment of love and blood rushing to her head, I could see life and the events and discussions over the last twentyfour hours enter a clearer light of perspective…

Press Review of ‘The Only way Up is Down’

Press Review of ‘The Only way Up is Down’

The Only way Up is Down ~ an exhibition of works by Mohammad Uzair Akram

The title piece of the show; ‘The Only way Up is Down’. Contrary to popular belief, this image has NOT been Photoshopped. Sure, the text on the wall [which reads ‘the only way up is down’]has been digitally added, and artistic liberty has been used to create the dramatic mood of the photograph, but this speaker lying in the middle of these two gateways with up and down arrows engraved on them was a sight I came across whilst randomly pitstopping in the middle of a desert on my way to Gawadar, Pakistan.

The two identical gateways are symbolic of not only the bipolar extremes of the universe we inhabit but also of choices that the human consciousness has been encountering before the marked beginning of time and infinium…All you could hear was the blowing of the dry desert winds, the microscopic shifting of the sands of time beneath your feet and the silent story that this solitary speaker was playing …

It’s a digital print, printed on pure cotton canvas using archival inks that give it a lifetime of approximately a hundred years. Limited edition of 5 prints available at PKRS 25,000 each.

For further information about the show please visit the event page on facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/events/170188416465604/

To stalk the artist virtually, please visit:
http://www.facebook.com/uecho

For further information regarding the exhibition venue; The Warehouse Gallery, Karachi, Pakistan, please visit:
http://www.facebook.com/Warehousespace

silence

there’s a sea of silence…
on whose shores i wait…

of news that the waves shall bring…
of a day when we shall be together forever…

dance with joy till the moment comes…
let me hear you… your whispering winds…

touch my heart, ignite my soul…
fuel my passion before i turn old…

old, older, old enough…
to realize whats lost is lost…

somewhere in the sands of time…
return to me what once was mine.