4-7 June 2026
A sound and sculptural installation comprised of 200 borindos (also known as boreendo or bhorindo), an ancient clay wind instrument from the desert region of Sindh, Pakistan, recently added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding list. Microtonal was originally commissioned for the 2022 Karachi Biennale, where it won the Jury Prize.
Microtonal is a collaboration between artist-led studio Invisible Flock and the artists standing between the borindo and a form of cultural extinction: Allah Jurio, the only remaining craftsman who makes the instrument, and Faqir Zulfiqar, the only known musician to play it.
Each borindo, hand-crafted by Allah Jurio, autonomously emits sound through speakers tuned to the unique resonant frequency of each instrument. The installation responds to its sonic environment, including the presence of nearby audiences, and is activated by amplifying barely perceptible sine waves creating a dynamic chorus of rare instruments.
The borindo is over 2,000 years old, created in the shape of the insect’s nest that shares its name and made from the earth of Badin in Sindh. It is emblematic of many discreet musical cultures in the region that are disappearing as those who hold the knowledge of the practices become fewer in the face of globalisation.
Microtonal explores intangible cultural heritage as both traditional and living expression, rethinking preservation not as static memory but as a dynamic, collaborative act of cultural resilience.
Microtonal is a collaboration between Faqir Zulfiqar, the master potter Allah Jurio and Invisible Flock.
Originally commissioned for the 2022 Karachi Biennale with support from British Council Pakistan where it won the Jury Prize. Supported by Arts Council England through National Lottery funding and Barnsley Council.
