March 2, 2002

The beauty of calligraphy has influenced numerous western artists as well as those at home. The influence of calligraphy on modern artists such as Klee, Mark Tobey and Hans Hartung, has been noted since the 1970s. In Karachi, during a printmaking workshop conducted by Michael Ponce De Leon in 1960, the American artist became interested in calligraphic script and assisted by Shahid Sajjad, incorporated it into his own work before his three-month workshop came to an end.

It is believed that in the early 1950s, Hanif Ramay was the first Pakistani artist to paint calligraphy-art. Shakir Ali, Shamza, Sadequain, Jamil Naqsh and Zahoor made other notable contributions. In present times the classic tradition is strong in the work of several esteemed artists in Pakistan: we find it in the inspiration of Gulgee, the sculpture of Amin, and in the rhythmic design elements of paintings by Ahmed Khan.

A renewed appreciation of the art of calligraphy has emerged in recent years. In Lahore, at the Alhamra Cultural Complex, an International Calligraph-Art Exhibition has been mounted annually for three consecutive years. Exhibits for the show come from countries east and west as well as Pakistan, and the event is, we are told, increasingly popular with foreign buyers. In Karachi, versatile artists are increasingly drawn to the practice of calligraphy (a conjoined word from the Greek meaning beautiful handwriting) and show their work in this discipline in thematic displays such as that currently exhibited at the Momart Gallery.

Showcasing an exhibition of over one hundred calligraphy-art works by sixteen participants, Momart Gallery displays pieces rendered with varying degrees of skill in oils on board and canvas, paper based works, watercolours and mixed-media works, including metal plates and glass work. Among the familiar artists showing their work are well known printmaker Kazim, abstractionist Mohsin Jafri, versatile Mashkoor Raza, Chitra Preetam — whose calligraphy is increasingly refined — Amber, using a gestural, colourful method, and Shakil Ismail. There are fifty paintings by Jamil Naqsh, contributions by Najmi Sura, Mona Naqsh Haroon, and Shami Ahmed has work of her own to show. Riaz Rafi shows some of his most impressive calligraphic pieces to date. A number of other artists are included in the display that is one of the best of its kind.

I suggest that first you seriously enjoy the work of fifteen of the artists shown before beginning to view the work of Jamil Naqsh. Informed of the exhibition by Shami Ahmed, Jamil started work, completing over one hundred pieces, fifty earmarked for the Momart exhibition. These are incredible pieces of delicacy and discipline; yet lively and witty. Here one must acknowledge the artist’s training with Ustad Sharif in the 1950s. Jamil never ceases to surprise. Pigeons traced with calligraphy, blue flowers in a vase formed of cursive script, an elephant, and much more.

In summing up one must acknowledge another modern master, Zahoorul Aklaq, who made a definitive statement: “The contemporary painting is the sum-total of a liberated sensibility. This sensibility can be comprehended visually alone. That is why a painting is a painting and not a word of prose. The basic components of a painting are colour, line, dimension, balance, and synthesis. They, put together, create a feeling, an effect. There are no words to describe this feeling or effect... The word is finite, the image infinite.”

Never is one more conscious of Zahoor’s words than when viewing Jamil’s work.