ISLAMABAD: Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA) on Thursday celebrated the 144th birthday of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah by holding an exhibition of his portraits.

Professor Saeed Akhtar, one of Pakistan’s most respected artists, was commissioned for the exhibition titled ‘A tribute to Quaid-i-Azam’.

According to organisers of the exhibition, Prof Akhtar has painted Jinnah prolifically and more than 90 portraits of Jinnah, hanging in government buildings have been painted by him.

Organisers said that the exhibition was a humble attempt to pay tribute to Jinnah and to recognise the services of one of the finest portrait artists of Pakistan.

Portraits of Jinnah that were collected from different organisations of Pakistan are on display which includes two huge murals, charcoal drawings and wall sized oil paintings. In some portraits, Jinnah is seen standing with politicians and his supporters while others portray him sitting behind his desk, seated on a sofa with the Pakistani flag painted in the background.

One of the paintings, brought from the Nadra head office was painted by Prof Akhtar in 1970, for the old National Assembly builging.

The portraits have been collected from General Headquarters (GHQ) Rawalpindi, SindhGovernor House, Punjab Governor House, Punjab Assembly, Sindh Chief Minister House,Staff College Quetta, Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) Kakul and Saeed Akhtar’s Studio Lahore.

Prof Akhtar was present on the opening of the exhibition along with senior artists including Rashid Butt. Students from the twin cities had also been invited to the exhibition.

Prof Akhtar gave tours to all visiting officials including President of Pakistan Arif Alvi and the first lady, Inter Provincial Coordination (IPC) Minister Dr Fahmida Mirza, along with other senior government officials.

The exhibition will continue for two weeks.

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2019