In an unprecedented move, the Ministry of Arts of the government of Cliftonia has issued a special publication aimed at introducing artists to the real definition of the word art and the means through which it can be manifested. Entitled Ways of Seeing (Anew), the publication hopes to redefine the way art is practised in the country. The book has been conceived by the director-general of the Cliftonia Art And Real Estate Council, Brigadier Babar Berger Niazi (forcibly retd), and will soon be distributed to artists and art associations around Cliftonia.

In an exclusive interview with Eos, Brig Niazi discussed the reason behind this revolutionary book and the meaning of art in a vibrant society.

EOS: Could you please share with us the reasons that compelled you to write this book?

Brig Niazi: One word: love for my country. 

EOS: Could you expand on that?

Brig Nazi: I was tired of seeing so-called artists — who know nothing of art — hide behind fake art to take potshots at me. 

EOS: At you?

Brig Niazi: No, not me per se, I mean my country. But then as you know, there is no difference between me and Cliftonia. You hurt my country, you hurt me. Right?

EOS: Tell us about …

Brig Niazi: I said, right? 

EOS: Yes, you are absolutely right. Please tell us about how your book will educate these fake artists.

Brig Niazi: Firstly, I believe that man created art to showcase a positive, softer image of himself and his nation state. We must, therefore, stay true to that ancient wisdom. Why veer away from something that our ancestors worked so hard to create and plunge instead into socio-political negativity? 

So, in order to remind our artists of our true heritage and to streamline all future art produced in the republic, we decided to publish this book. This gem contains two beautiful templates depicting breathtaking landscapes. Keeping in mind our cultural and religious values and the basic reason for art to exist — i.e., to promote a positive, softer image of ourselves — our Martial Arts Committee spent a lot of time conjuring up these scenes. These pictures truly represent who we are as a society. 

What is revolutionary about these images is that they have been drawn in black and white, with nary a colour —except the black of ink — thrown in to influence the artist. Instead, the blank spaces have numbers that correspond to specific colours listed at the bottom of the image. The artist is given complete and total freedom to paint his or her choice of colour into the blank spaces as long as it matches the number printed therein. It’s an ancient technique that was used by our Central Asian warrior ancestors called ‘colour-by-numbers.’

EOS: Can you tell us a little bit about these images?

Brig Niazi: Certainly. The first template is a gorgeous landscape called The Harvest. It’s a beautiful depiction of a typical Cliftonian spring day. In the background, we see our world-famous snow-capped mountain ranges… to the side, the mighty River Aitchisonia flows majestically all the way down to the Sea of Cliftonia … the skies are azure … the zephyr whispers to the trees … and in the foreground, we are shown a steel grey C-130 Hercules carrying away — within its gigantic belly — the season’s first harvest. Beautiful, no?

Our second colour-by-numbers is called Two Friends Having Lunch On The River Bank. Once again, keeping our mood positive and soft, we see a winding road leading up to the river. Birds with colourful plumage dot the sky … elegant Saharan dorca gazelles gather by the river to drink to their hearts’ content … tulips, indigenous to the northern areas of Cliftonia, are sprinkled liberally across two-thirds of the painting … as there are hardly any shadows on the ground, we can deduce that it’s around noon time … the main focus of the image, however, remain the two friends having lunch … but pray where are they? Since they are human — and since we don’t believe in depicting human forms — our martial artist alludes to their presence by drawing a camouflaged Type 59 main battle tank parked by the river bank … we see two pairs of boots resting beside the tank … from this we gather that since it’s noon, it must be lunch time and the two uniformed friends are, therefore, cosily ensconced inside the tank enjoying their midday meal.

So you see how simply and yet beautifully we’ve depicted the reality of our existence? And how unfettered and free we’ve left the artist to select either one of the images to fill in with the colours of their choice? Can art get any more real than this? This is the sort of art we hope our book will engender and encourage.

Farid Alvie was born. He currently lives.
He tweets @faridalvie

Published in Dawn, EOS, November 10th, 2019