Students from a fine arts studio in Islamabad recently displayed the fruits of their labour in Karachi
Over the years art has become a popular subject to pursue for higher studies, particularly among Pakistani girls. However, the sad reality is that only a fraction of the girls who major in fine arts make a career out of it. Most get married and either forget about nurturing their talent further or, at the most, indulge in it as a hobby, or take up a teaching job. In order to change the status quo, and as a champion for the cause of promoting economic independence among Pakistani women, artist Masood Parvez launched a Fine Art Studio in Islamabad, which has become very active over the last couple of years. And the one aspect that distinguishes Parvez’s studio from that of other artists’ is that it concentrates on offering practical work experience and guidance to women of all ages in producing marketable artwork.
States Parvez “Fine arts is one of the oldest forms of communication. It is not taken seriously enough in Pakistan and I want our women artists to realize that they can make a living from it, as long as they are willing to put in the hard work.”
Visiting Karachi with an exhibition of paintings by his students — ten female artists — Parvez is thrilled with the enthusiasm with which the young women have been working, some of whom are participating in a group show for the second time. Exhibiting under the theme of ‘The Tall Ships’, the 27 paintings on display till June 15, at a local art gallery are of historic sailing ships which pioneered intercontinental travel, trade and navel warfare and made fascinating discoveries.
One wonders why Parvez chose such an unusual theme, and one so remote from our culture. He explains “When I returned to Pakistan in 1992 after a 14-year stint in the US, I realized that mainstream painting here is largely confined to projecting our culture, mostly depicted by scenes of the countryside or women in the villages. I wanted to steer away from that. It is time we started concentrating on not just our ethnicity, but on the culture of the world as a whole. We must learn to be multi-cultural and broaden our outlook on life.”
He did his Masters in Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, was on the Board of Education in New York state and in the state of N. Carolina, and taught cultural literacy through Art in Brooklyn. One can then appreciate why his ideas are so radical. Parvez prefers focusing on paintings that involve research into foreign cultures and international history so that his students become informed citizens of a global village.
But why not allow males to benefit from this studio as well? “I find that boys, nowadays, who take up fine arts as a subject to have a non-serious attitude . They tend to drift off onto other art-related fields such as computer graphics. Girls, on the other hand, are serious workers who are receptive to new ideas and techniques, and are more appreciative of art. I did initially plan on enrolling boys as well, but I found that the few that did apply didn’t have the kind of diligence and sincerity that I wanted.”
The Studio has a novel modus operandi. It takes in students for a particular project and they work six days a week from noon till 8 pm until the project is complete — which could take anywhere between six to eight months depending on the number of paintings each student is making — ready for it to be placed in an exhibition. After the exhibition there is a break for a couple of months until students are ready to start work on the next project. While most of the students rejoin for the next project, fresh enrolments are sought too, so that more and more women can benefit from the experience.
Although this is the third exhibition organized by the Studio, it is their second group showing. The first was a solo exhibition by Fadia Omer, entitled ‘The Painted Legends’ featuring pots and plates hand painted in ancient Greek style depicting scenes from Greek mythology. The second was a group show on the same theme as the present one, featuring 20 large oil paintings of historical ships. Both the exhibitions were very well received. Although some of the students are participating in the exhibition for a second time, and a few of the ships had earlier also been painted for the first exhibition, no student has repeated their own work.
It is for the first time that the students have stepped out of Islamabad to participate in an exhibition. He feels that for most of them it was an opportunity they could only have dreamt of, and is thrilled with the drive and team spirit they have exuded.
For his next project, Parvez plans a series highlighting the bravery of the people of NWFP. He says: “When the British came to the subcontinent they gave the world the impression that they were invincible and had overwhelmed us completely. They totally downplayed the fact that the British armies were no match for the warring tribes of the province. I would like to bring out these missing links in history and depict in paint this theme of courage. Ours will be a very indigenous and honest depiction of history.” With the kind of spirit shown by the team one feels certain that the art scene in Islamabad at least, will witness an improvement, particularly the work of women artists.
