LAHORE The Punjab Institute of Language, Art and Culture (Pilac) has commissioned a project to Aslam Kamal under which he will paint a mural to project the message of Sufi poets of Punjab.

Officials say Pilac has a mandate to project Punjab and its people and to spread the message of love, peace and tolerance as preached by great Sufi poets of the land. In pursuit of the same objective, the Art & Culture Wing of the institute is working on the mural under the title ‘Creative Past of Punjab.’

The 12x8-foot mural will be painted in oil and the work on it has started and basic sketching is in process.

Seven Sufi poets of the Punjab would be depicted through the mural. They are Baba Farid, Shah Hussain, Sultan Bahu, Bulleh Shah, Waris Shah, Khawaja Ghulam Farid and Mian Muhammad Bakhsh. The mural would be displayed in the Punjab Museum being run by Pilac.

Aslam Kamal is the recipient of Pride of Performance and has been commissioned to paint the mural because of his contributions to the field of art and literature. Calligraphy and paintings for book covers are a major reason for his fame. He is also the inventor of ‘Khat-e-Kamal’, a unique style of writing Urdu/Persian script and author of many valuable books such as ‘Kasab-e-Kamal’ (Painting of Kalam-e-Iqbal), ‘Qalam Mu Qalam’ (A Collection of columns written on Art & Culture), ‘Islami Khattati: An Introduction’ (History), ‘Gumshuda’ (A travelogue of London), ‘Lahore Se Cheen Tak’ (A travelogue of China), ‘Aslam Kamal Oslo Mein’ (A travelogue of Norway), and ‘Gardposh’ (A story of Book Dust Covers). His paintings are on display in Iqbal Art Gallery (Aiwan-e-Iqbal), Iqbal Art Gallery (Pharmacy Department, Punjab University) and Aslam Kamal Art Gallery, Aiwan-e-Qaid, Islamabad. He is a specialist in painting verses of Allama Iqbal and Faiz Ahmed Faiz.