Murad Khan Mumtaz
is an artist currently based in Lahore, Pakistan, where he is an assistant professor at the National College of Art. He graduated from Columbia University on a Fulbright scholarship in 2010. He is represented by Tracy Williams Ltd. in New York.

Active Compass

Murad Khan Mumtaz and Alyssa Phoebus, in their collaborative project “Origin, Departure,” for Triple Canopy’s thirteenth issue, Bad Actors, illustrated their experience of leaving America for Mumtaz’s native Pakistan by deconstructing and manipulating the materials facilitating their passage—their passports. For his recent series,
“Return,” exhibited at Tracy Williams (January 12–February 11), Mumtaz revisits the Pakistani art of miniature painting. He speaks with Holly Stanton about indigenous materials and sacred geometries, from the seal of Solomon to the landscape of the American Southwest.

Holly Stanton: The average sizeMembers of the community and protective services committee voted in favour of the new, updated Ottawa smoking ban Wednesday.

The new regulations, first proposed Jan. 30 by the Ottawa Board of Health, would ban smoking at bar and restaurant patios and at city-run beaches and parks. Smoking would also be prohibited at any festivals held on city property.

Bylaw officers plan to issue warnings to smokers in the spring and help people get used to the new rules. The fines, which are expected to be about $300, would start in the summer.

The enhanced bylaw has already been passed by the board of health and needs just one more stamp of approval from city council, which will vote Feb. 22.