Side by Side takes the form of 2 books: a connect-the-dots book and a religious instruction manual. In the connect-the-dots book, called The True Path, the reader is invited to connect numbered dots on a complex 82-page, concertina-fold pull-out that reaches more than 25 feet long. The dots, found among exquisitely drawn pictorial elements that recall 18th-century miniature paintings, eventually map out forms such as rockets and missiles. The accompanying book resembles the religious instruction manuals distributed in Pakistan to promote the government’s ”Moderate Enlightenment” policy, with the artist’s Mughal-style paintings of contemporary everyday people. Qureshi adapts a commonplace form of printed matter and a traditionally valued art practice to reflect upon the complexities of contemporary society and politics in Pakistan.

2 Volume set
Side 1/2: Softcover / 82 pp
Side 2/2: Hardcover / 48 pp