KARACHI, Nov 2: A four-week exhibition of miniatures by masters as well as students began at the Mohatta Palace museum on Friday evening.

The exhibition, organized by the Pakistan National Council of the Arts, in collaboration with the private sector art galleries, features 75 miniatures, the curator of the Mohatta Palace museum, Dr Nasreen Askari, told Dawn.

She added that the ongoing exhibition titled “Threads in Time” would continue simultaneously.

Earlier, she said that it was for the first time that a national event of this kind was taking place in Karachi. “In these troubled times, recognition of our historical values will go a long way towards strengthening our self-esteem,” she observed.

She informed the audience that early next year, another exhibition, in collaboration with the PNCA, would take place at the museum featuring the works of Sadequain.

The director-general of the PNCA, Raja Changez Sultan, said that it was for the first time that a major PNCA event was taking place outside Islamabad. “The idea is to make all provinces feel that they are partners in the preservation of culture and the arts,” he said.

He informed the audience that in January, the PNCA would organize a function of the performing arts.

He said that the miniatures’ exhibition stretched from masters to students, adding that the PNCA wanted to represent works that cut across ages.

Art critic Fakir Syed Aijazuddin said that the exhibition would introduce the works of a new generation of artists.

Terming the Mohatta Palace museum a microcosm of culture, he paid tribute to the commitment of the curator, Dr Nasreen Askari, to the museum.

“Just as the previous exhibition titled “Treasures of the Talpurs” dealt with the aristocracy of power, this exhibition deals with the aristocracy of talent,” he observed.

He stressed the need for making a distinction between the revival and renaissance of miniature, adding that the miniatures on display at the Mohatta Palace marked a departure from tradition.

The exhibition features the works of the following artists: Haji Mohammad Sharif (late), Haji Shuja Ullah (late), Aminah Jahan Jamil, Amina Ali, Amna Khan, Amir Malik, Ahsan Nadeem, Bushra Hussain, Farrah Mahmood Rana, Gul-i-Zehra, Lubna Naeem, Mehr Butt, Reema Kaleem Faroki, Maliha Noorani, Mariam Hashmi, Nadia Sani, Nayab Azeem, Marium Khursheed, Rabia Kanwal, Rana Zehra, Shakeel Ahmad, Salahuddin, Syed Najmul Hassan Kazmi, Shazia Anjum Zaidi, Sehr Savul, Sayyam Rasheed, Saira Khalid, Maria Azeem, Sobia Naz, Suraya Saleem, Sadaf Naz, Sumaira Tariq, Shireen Bano, Farwa Hasnain Naqvi and Zara Shah Jahan.