Rabia Zuberi talks about the trials and tribulations in the process of setting up the frist art school in Karachi

Today Karachi boasts a vibrant art climate — its premier galleries have hectic exhibition schedules, academic art institutions are teeming with students and a discerning buyer/collector/connoisseur clientele is fuelling a brisk art market. But in the early post-independence years, Karachi‘s artscape was virtually nonexistent. The art milieu here began to evolve as artists migrated from India or came from other areas of Pakistan a decade or two later.

Reliving the early years, Rabia Zuberi who arrived in Karachi in 1963 recalls that, “the Arts Council had just been instituted and only a very small minority understood the language of art. An award winning student and a fresh graduate of Lucknow School of Art, I was brimming with enthusiasm (bahut fresh aur bahut purjosh) and keenly felt that inculcating art consciousness in the public was a basic and immediate necessity. I had been warned in Lucknow that there was no art environment in Karachi and I had insisted that I would create one then. Assisted by my younger sister, artist Hajra Zuberi, I began art classes in two small rooms in our residential premises under the name of Mina Art School. This was the proverbial small beginning that eventually mushroomed into the Karachi School of Art, a name proposed by premier educationist and ace modernist, Shakir Ali.”

Pioneering art education where none existed, Rabia Zuberi made history when she laid the foundation of the Karachi School of art in 1964. Continuing her recount she pointed out that, “KSA was the first art school of purely Pakistani origin, unlike NCA in Lahore which was originally a pre-partition British institution. Friends like artist Ahmed Parvez had suggested that the school be opened in a prosperous locality but KSA was deliberately conceived as an art institute for the industrious and conscientious middle and lower class. I was fired by the idea that I was doing something for Pakistan and in subsequent years I derived great satisfaction and inspiration from the fact that KSA was instrumental in settling students from low income backgrounds into stable careers.

“Initially located in Nazimabad in a rented house that belonged to Dr Tirmizi, former Vice chancellor of Karachi University, KSA was an accessible venue and eager young girls and boys from surrounding areas enrolled — but they encountered stiff opposition at home. A career in arts was unthinkable then. Many a sceptical parent would come to us and insist that we persuade their child to leave. I was familiar with this attitude; when I had envisioned KSA my father had scoffed that “Yeh sab Khaili Pulao hai” but I had persevered and advised my students to do the same.

“The school took on a formal structure when we chose artist Mansur Rahi as Principal of KSA in 1965.The curriculum was devised on the Lucknow school model and fees were a mere Rs15/ because I was determined to make art education affordable even though KSA always remained short on funds. Equipped with just the most basic essentials, the school had indoor and outdoor classes and was known as the Chattai Wala School because outdoor painting and sculpture lessons were held under a (chattai) thatched roof.

“We were sustained by our high spirits in those days and there was such camaraderie among the students and teachers that we functioned like one happy family, without violating the essentials of school discipline which I make sure are observed even today — students are not allowed to smoke and girls cannot wear lipstick at KSA. Frequent informal visits by the likes of Bashir Mirza, Sadequain, Ahmed Parvez, Laila Shahzada, Mussarat Mirza and Bengali artists like Zainul Abedin, Mobinul Azim were another feature of those times. The friendly exchange of knowledge and techniques between the artist fraternity and the students was very constructive for both.

“Unlike government-assisted art centres, KSA was entirely a self-help venture and paucity of funds was a constant restraint. This often drove the three of us to undertake commissioned works to generate income. There were drastic changes at KSA when Hajra and Mansur Rahi married and eventually left Karachi to settle in Islamabad. As Principal, I now had to shoulder the entire responsibility of running the school. Academically, Rahi's absence was an acute loss and the ongoing economic constraints at times forced me to consider closing down the institution altogether. Fortunately, the crisis was averted when an old student, Abdul Hafeez, offered his services. He taught at KSA for three years without remuneration and helped stabilise the management of the school.

The ’70s was a decade of struggle on other fronts as well. Having acquired a piece of land for proper school premises, it took me a good seven years to complete the first storey. Single handedly financing and supervising the ongoing construction was an arduous task but my will-power always enabled me to forge ahead and by 1979 the school shifted into the present premises just beyond the National Stadium. Eventually, two floors were further added to house the department of graphic and textile design as well as computer graphics.

“I find this hardship and struggle amply compensated when I see KSA alumni rise and shine in the art world here and abroad. Among the artists whose work evolved from a cubist format Lubna Agha, Riffat Alvi, Mashkoor Reza and Tariq Javed have made a name for themselves. Almost the entire crop of Karachi water- colourists who have distinguished themselves through the exquisite use of this medium, belong to KSA. Artists Abdul Hayee, Athar Jamal, Ghalib Baqar, Hanif Shehzad, Moazzam and Pirzada Najmul Hasan are among the senior water-colourists who first brought the genre into the limelight in Karachi. The late Zahin Ahmed proved to be an especially gifted teacher and artist who left a lasting impression on the younger batch of water-colourists.

“My forte was sculpture and this skill generated its own momentum. Anjum Ayaz is one of KSA’s earliest sculpture majors who is well known in Pakistan and has also exhibited abroad. Among the younger generation, Roohi Ahmed, faculty at Indus Valley, is proving her mettle in the field of sculpture. This is a sea change compared to the anti-sculpture atmosphere in which I willed myself to practice. The first exhibition organised by the PACC in 1969 comprised 50 pieces of my sculptures. It was billed a ‘stunning show’ and art critic Sultan Ahmed wrote “She refused to be defeated” regarding my persistence to continue against all odds.

“Students passing out of KSA have not only shone in the field of fine arts but have rendered a major service by catering to the design requirements of this industrial city. Till the early ’90s, the school was the single leading source providing qualified designers to the advertising and publicity industry, textile and interior décor concerns, print, tele-media, small industries and information technology. Some enterprising students have done KSA proud by working abroad in the UAE, UK and USA.

“In hindsight I feel that, in this day and age I could not have done what I did in the ’60s. In those days people had time, there was an element of honesty in their attitude and a willingness to work hard. Today people are distanced from nature and are distracted by computer technology. There is a race to accumulate degrees but it is the development of an art sensibility that turns students into artists. It is important to learn from nature. For success in life my watch words are love, confidence, moderation and tolerance.”