Avoid Release to the Environment,
The cockroach symbolises various aspects of the human condition in Qayyum’s art, an exploration that began in her early career in Pakistan. Drawing from entomology, she explores layered meanings akin to museum displays, addressing politicised information. Over time, she extends this motif to symbolise resilience and mortality, critiquing Western societal fear and ‘othering’ of people of colour and their cultures, particularly in the context of Muslim travel and border crossings.
