Zahra Mansoor’s ‘Fanaa’ explores intimacy, unresolved relationships through ethereal artwork

Zahra Mansoor’s solo exhibition ‘Fanaa is the Eclipse’ at the Sanat Initiative brings to life a surreal world where figures emerge from a watery backdrop, evoking a ghostly theatrical performance. This environment complements her exploration of gender archetypes and behavioural patterns through enigmatic paintings using diffused light and violet tones.

Her imagined paradisiacal garden, or ‘gulshan’, is a liminal zone pregnant with mystery, shadow, and silvery light, serving as the perfect setting for her inquiries into desire, fantasy, and mirages. Mansoor’s vivid descriptions of this space are evident in her artworks: “I have been consumed by desire, fantasy, mirages for most of my life.”

These paintings, hung on walls and stretched across entire bolts of fabric from ceiling to floor, invite viewers into a surreal environment filled with ambiguous intimacy and unformalised inter-human relationships. The artist’s exploration of uncertainty is even more pronounced in her short film, ‘Doomed Love Trope’, which depicts planning a wedding to the object of her love—a purple couch.

Her exhibition also features quirky contributions from artists, friends, and the curator themselves, all probing Mansoor’s introspective world through philosophical lenses. The show, on display at Sanat Initiative from January 13-22, 2026, offers a space where viewers must sit with ambiguity, memory, and becoming.

The exhibition’s catalogue encapsulates this exploration of uncertainty through the lens of a lilac-tinted ‘gulshan’, inviting readers to delve into Mansoor’s artistic psyche. Her works suggest that even in the mundane world, there is room for creative engagement—be it with societal patterns or philosophical musings on human relationships and desire.

Through her art, Mansoor reveals how the seemingly ordinary can yield profound insights, blending personal experiences with abstract concepts of love and identity. Her exhibit at Sanat Initiative invites a journey into the surreal depths of Mansoor’s mind, where the commonplace is reimagined as fertile territory for artistic expression.