March 08, 2009

Capturing the vivacious and pulsating lifestyle of people amidst old heritage buildings and bazaars in watercolour, Dr Anwar pays tribute to the glories of old Lahore

There is an old Persian adage that if there was no Lahore, Isphahan (Iran) would have been half of the world. According to another ancient proverb, “Even if Persia’s Shiraz and Isphahan were united, they wouldn’t make one Lahore.” Such is the allure of this ancient city, that numerous artists have dedicated their work to its architectural and natural beauty.

The people of the twin cities recently had a chance to revisit the old grand heritage of Lahore through the eyes of renowned artist, Dr Ajaz Anwar, whose exhibition opened at National Art Gallery.

Capturing the vivacious and pulsating lifestyle of people amidst old heritage buildings and bazaars in watercolour, the artist , through his work, pays tribute to the glories of old Lahore that stand lost to the new-fangled expansion taking place everyday. He says that through his paintings he wants to highlight the historical parts of Lahore that must be preserved.

Most of the visuals in Dr Anwar’s paintings are based on his childhood memories. Some of these buildings don’t exist anymore, and he has had to rely on memory to paint them. In his painting ‘My Jehanzeb block’, he has captured the locality where he used to live as seen from his bedroom window. Another painting, ‘End of a long journey’, which is different from the rest of the paintings, gives a very dreamy but realistic depiction in which antique cars are shown with no tyres.

Dr Anwar has not only preserved the old heritage ensemble of buildings on his canvases, but has also preserved the day to day life of people on the streets. Kites are almost always present in his painting as an anecdote of life of the common people as they celebrate life and living in their own colourful ways.

Having travelled extensively around the world, Dr Anwar says that he has seen no city in the world that matches the vibrancy of Lahore and he has come to the same conclusion like many others, that with all its magical mood and mode, Lahore remains in a league of its own. Thus, he has taken upon himself to urge the people of this city to take pride in their heritage and work for its preservation in whatever capacity they can.

The artist also feels that it is his duty to try to do something to repay the love he has received from the city and its people. Although buildings are the main theme of his paintings and people merely depict a lifestyle, the characters he has portrayed are quintessential of the life of Lahore or Punjab.

Dr Anwar laments that the glorious city of Lahore is fast becoming a concrete jungle with modern buildings replacing the ancient heritage architecture. He adds that there is still time to save whatever remains of its history and heritage.

Born in Ludhiana in 1946, Dr Anwar was immensely stirred by the passion of painting from childhood, drawing inspiration from his father who was a renowned cartoonist of his time. He completed his PhD in Muslim Architecture in Turkey in 1978 and proceeded to do a course on Conservation of Cultural Property at UNESCO, Rome in 1977. From 1972 he has been lecturing until he became Professor and Director of Art Gallery, National College of Art, Lahore. He also heads Lahore Conservation Society and is doing his utmost to preserve old Lahore.