The Alhamra Art Gallery on The Mall was a venue of high activity on Tuesday when an exhibition of the works of veteran and young artists from Saarc countries was inaugurated under the title of “Old Masters Young Voices” by Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi.
The exhibition displayed the works of artists from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Before the exhibition could be officially announced open, it was marred by a fracas between Rashida Reza, wife of Reza Kazim an art patron, and the officials of the Alhamra Arts Council.
Accompanying the legendary Indian artist M.F. Husain, Ms Rashida Reza Kazim was not allowed to bring her vehicle inside the Alhamra’s premises. She and M.F. Husain had to walk through the driveway to reach the gallery.
“What kind of honour is this country giving to art? It is so humiliating to make a guest walk all the way while government officials are dropped off right at the gallery’s entrance? I think a formal apology by the government to M.F. Husain is required. An artist has no value in this country,” said the inflamed Ms Rashida Kazim. But despite the initial commotion and high tempers, the exhibition was a resounding success. It is the first time ever in the art history of Saarc countries that an exhibition involving the pairing together of a young artist with an internationally acclaimed maestro has been held.
Critically acclaimed artists of international renown like M.F. Husain and Krishan Khanna from India, Gulgee and Shahid Sajjad from Pakistan, Kibria from Bangladesh, H.A. Karunaratne from Sri Lanka and Shashi Bikram Shah from Nepal flew specially for the inaugural ceremony.
“It was about time that something like this happened,” stated Atul Dodiya, a young artist from Mumbai, whose life size work in water colour filled up an entire wall of the refurbished Alhamra Art Gallery.
Visibly happy to be part of this culturally gargantuan event Atul said: “This is my first time in Pakistan and I am absolutely taken in by Lahore. It’s such a beautiful city.
An exhibition of this nature involving artists from other Saarc countries was long overdue. Personally speaking, India and Pakistan should have taken the initiative to bring the artists closer.”
The 30-year-old Sujan Chitrakar from Nepal had travelled with his country’s most famous artist, Shashi Bikram Shah. “My work deals with the drama of death where I have used three dimensional objects which is installed and at the same time very expressive as well,” explained Sujan.
His work was intimately engaging, impacting the onlooker with deep melancholy. “My work reflects the time we are experiencing in Nepal. It’s sad but at the same time artists like me haven’t completely lost faith,” reflected a determined Sujan.
Sitting outside in an armchair outside the Alhamra gallery, awaiting the arrival of the Punjab chief minister, the internationally acknowledged Gulgee looked somewhat sombre.
This was the first time he has been officially invited by the government of the Punjab to exhibit his work. “It’s a good idea to organize this event. But at the same time very unfortunate that as an artist, with a career span of many decades, had never been invited to display his work by the Punjab government. And I must add that the event could have been better managed. A number of paintings of different artists have still not arrived in Lahore. Can you imagine one of my son’s sculptures was broken during placement at the gallery?” commented a visibly irritated Mr Gulgee.
According to the official version released to the press, a total of Rs10 million have been raised to organize the mammoth event. Further to that, the private sector has contributed Rs3 million for the renovation of the Alhamra.
Even though the Punjab government has officially endorsed the exhibition by organizing this event through the Chief Minister’s Task Force on Lahore, the credit of ensuring the inauguration in record time goes to Ms Salima Hashmi, the curator of the Old Masters Young Voices show.
“It is very difficult to converge artists from different countries on such a scale. The main reason is that art involves the physical handling of their work. It took us time to get the artists’ works cleared from the customs.
Some of the paintings are still being cleared and others have yet to come to Lahore. That certainly is a lot of work, but I was determined to get the artists together. I’m not being paid to work as a curator so I can say without any pressure that despite criticism I did not feel discouraged,” commented Ms Salima Hashmi.
By criticism Ms Hashmi meant, as a source said, pressure to be included in the exhibition. Some of the artists were recommended directly by the prime minister to be part of this significant event.
It was also disclosed that certain Pakistani artists were not happy with Ms Hashmi’s management of the exhibition. “They wanted their paintings to be displayed at a prominent site at the gallery,” claimed the source. On her part, Ms Hashmi’s composure could not be shaken.
“Nowhere in the world do artists decide where their work is going to be put up. It’s the decision of the curator. I really am not concerned with my critics. I wanted the artists of the Saarc countries to come together through art and I believe the job has been done,” said Ms Hashmi.
