In the history of the evolution of Pakistani art, the 80s are marked by the revival of miniature painting, essentially associated with the setting up of the miniature department at the National College of Arts (NCA). This resurrection of a centuries-old tradition also allowed for avant-garde themes, contemporary subjects and secular topics to be addressed in a different perspective which made this once-conventional genre one of the popular styles of painting for the new generation of painters.

Ustad Haji Sharif and Ustad Sheikh Shuja Ullah trained young students at the Mayo School of Arts and the fine arts department of the Punjab University Lahore, in the court-style miniature painting in the late ’40s and ’50s.

When Shakir Ali became principal of the NCA he introduced modern art and conceptual ideas, and miniature painting became neglected. Ustad Bashir Ahmad rejuvenated miniature painting at the NCA after Ustad Shuja Ullah, a move that ultimately shaped and produced students like Shazia Sikandar, Imran Qureshi and Muhammad Waseem as the harbinger of a new style; the contemporary miniature.

Fifty young miniature artists have discovered new possibilities regarding expression of a little expressed theme

Ejaz Art Gallery, Lahore, organised a monumental group exhibition of contemporary miniatures titled as “Creative Scripts,” with almost 100 frames by 50 miniature artists of Pakistan.

This show was unique in its magnitude and nature and can be labelled as the largest display of contemporary miniatures; a style that has evolved as a captivating genre in painting. These young miniature artists have discovered new possibilities regarding expression of the unexpressed psychological aspects of life and representation of the non-representational themes such as fantasies, nightmares, self-identity and acculturation. Regardless of the margins of size, scale and the limitations of the subject matter, this show covered a range of ideas, subjects, mediums and techniques under the umbrella of miniature style painting. This visual articulation was no lesser than the modern art movements which served the early 20th century in Europe.

Trip, Naireen Zia

Keeping in mind the size of this exhibition, it is impossible to comment on every single artist or his or her paintings. However, the collective responsiveness of all the artists suggests the social and psychological awareness of these practitioners who adopted the traditional miniatures as the most modern medium of expression.

One painter developed his fascination with the power of currency and used it as the surface for his paints and the other implied the concept of displacement in concern with the contemporary lifestyle and its effect on individual and social life. There were paintings with simple lines and objects like squares and cubes to add a personal narrative of a middle-class common man belonging to the Third World. Intimate accounts emerging from grief, sorrow, disappointment, desperation and stress were also depicted in this multifarious show.

Moreover, topics like transformation of an image from the idea and the impressions of this process on the artists, reminded one of the metaphysical approach of the surrealists.

Among the contemporary context, there were also images rendered in the conventional style that the miniature painting used to revolve around, especially with reference to illuminated manuscripts; a tradition that is linked with the Persians and the Mughals.

No doubt, the contemporary miniature paintings have earned name, fame and respect, not only for the artist but for his or her country as well. However, on a serious note, one cannot ignore financial gains and the corporate circle of private galleries that might have forced few individuals, who were more comfortable on the traditional vasli, to transform their style as modern or contemporary miniature artists, by exploring their imagination and extraordinarily unusual surfaces.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, February 15th, 2015

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