Published on, Aug. 23 -- August 23, 2025 1:28 AM

In the evocative oeuvre of Usaydh Agha, history is fluid, alive, and ceaselessly contested, a reflection of Pakistan's own complex relationship with its past. Through his powerful canvases, Agha delves deeply into the tangled legacies of memory and identity that shape our collective consciousness. His art moves beyond mere representation; it inhabits the uneasy space between communal myth and personal history, echoing the ambivalence and trauma that mark our nation's postcolonial journey.

Agha's paintings, such as the ones seen in his recent RCA (Royal Academy of Arts) summer exhibition, are urgent meditations on the violence of remembrance. The figures-often spectral, contemplative, and ...