March 29, 2003

Showing his work at Karachi’s V.M. Gallery at an exhibition that opens on Friday, April 4, Akram Dost Baloch is of the opinion that works of art must convey a message, interact with society, raise questions and establish a dialogue. One of the rare, genuine socio-political artists in the country, he uses the exploitation of women within the country as a symbol of oppression.

Humanistic values draw energy from the artist’s handling of weight mass and colour, while the distorted figures challenge mythical concepts of the ideal form. In lighter moods the artist brings to his work a joyous celebration of rainbow colours that spill out in profusion on hand crafted frames, a legacy of his heritage.

A national award-winning artist, Akram Dost, was accorded a prize for his panelled entry at the 7th National Visual Arts Exhibition held in Islamabad in ‘96. He graduated from the National College of Art, Lahore, in 1983. With Jamal Shah and Kaleem Khan, he was instrumental in establishing the Fine Arts Department of the Balochistan University in ‘84.

Since then the artist has shown his work in Quetta, Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. In Quetta, though there is no art gallery as such, exhibitions take place regularly in the Fine Arts department of the university, and at the lively arts council. On numerous occasions Akram Dost has participated in group exhibitions abroad. At a solo exhibition of paintings held in Paris in 2000, his work was much appreciated and acquired by artists as well as Parisian art enthusiasts.

Akram took part in a three-week artist’s camp/workshop held at Gadani in 2001, and at the time produced work that reflected the colours of his surroundings, sky blue, sand and a darker blue of the sea. The first event of its kind in Pakistan, it gave artists from many countries a rare opportunity to work together. The results of the event were displayed in a group show held at Amin Gulgee’s Gallery where installations, miniatures and three-dimensional pieces were displayed along with paintings.

This display, which constitutes his first solo exhibition in Karachi since returning from Paris, promises to be a momentous affair. Currently head of the Fine Arts Department of the University of Balochistan, and keenly involved in the Balochistan Study Centre located at the University, Akram Dost is a busy artist who spends much of his spare time in the studio. There he paints, carves, etches, embosses and penetrates wooden panels and paints his canvases embellished with frames that refer to the exquisite embroidery of his area.

The artist’s passionate identification with his surroundings defines his work with explicit clarity. Through his work, Akram Dost creates an all-embracing compendium of the intrinsic traditions and on-going issues that contribute to the make-up of the ancient region of Balochistan. At the same time, his assertion appears as a modern, acutely perceived microcosm: one that directs his aesthetic vocabulary.

He describes a fascinating, deeply rooted culture manifesting in dynamic surfaces worked in varied ways. There are no limitations to his imagery or its expression, which appears as a transformative process. One discovers joyous colour: metaphor in the shape of distorted figuration and wooden surfaces textured in a multiplicity of ways.

Akram Dost examines the complex relationship between disciplines and media and, in the process, addresses the human experience in all its fragility. Included in the collection of his latest work one discovers a stunning sequence of freestanding, three-panelled ‘screens’. Intricately carved, painted and etched throughout, they constitute unprecedented, multi-imaged installations with the presence of sculpture.