It has been said that Pakistan in the midst of an artistic boom. Talented visual artists, performers, painters and craftsmen can be found in every corner of the country.

To find out what efforts are being made to consolidate and preserve the works of the masters as well as the new generation, Dawn spoke to Mussarrat Naheed Imam — Director of Visual Arts at the Pakistan National Council of Arts.

Q: How would you compare the new generation of artists with their predecessors?

A: This generation is very talented and understands international requirements easily. A lot of young artists are participating in international exhibitions, they are coming up with new ideas and they are doing a great job in improving our country’s image. They do not wait for government patronage and are creating their own opportunities.

The older artists were very talented, but largely failed to present their work on an international level, with the exception of a few, like Sadequain. You cannot compare past generations with younger artists because then, people had limited opportunities. Now, with the advent of the Internet, people can see material from artists in different countries and can contact them easily.

Of course, there is still a need to promote art; we need more places like the National Art Gallery where people can discover new talent and provide young artists a platform.

Q: How can we educate the new generation about the work of the maestros?

A: PNCA had a quite a few exceptional art pieces, but they were destroyed over time. The National Art Gallery launched two programmes to preserve old pieces of art and established a laboratory to restore pieces that were wasting away.

We managed to restore about 600 masters’ pieces but we need foreign experts to train the laboratory personnel.

Foreign technicians were hesitant to visit because of security concerns, but a two-week event was arranged where experts from Japan and France held workshops on oil painting preservation and Italian experts showed us how to preserve sculptures.

The NAG also made a catalogue of all the art work that is hanging in the President House, Prime Minister House, the Senate and National Assembly, Pakistan Secretariat, General Post Office, CDA, banks and other public buildings. Before this, there was no record of these treasures and were usually mishandled.

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2015

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