LAHORE: Panelists at separate book launch sessions on the inaugural day of the Lahore Literary Festival (LLF) discussed the diversity of visual arts and fabric of urban conservation of Lahore, a historical city.

One of the books launched on Friday at the LLF was Nazar Ki Umang – the Urdu translation of The Eye Still Seeks: Pakistani Contemporary Art written by Salima Hashmi. The book was translated into Urdu by French writer Julien Columeau, who has kept a keen eye on Urdu and Punjabi literature and knows several languages such as Hindi and Sanskrit. The session was moderated by Khaled Ahmed and included Salima Hashmi, Arfa Syeda Zahra and Nasir Abbas Nayyar as panelists.

Ms Hashmi said the book described the contemporary art scene of Pakistan spanning over two decades, adding that it was written with the perspective that Pakistani art and artists should be recognised. An interesting aspect of the book was that fiction writers were invited to contribute to it. She said she had asked Mohsin Hamid to write on his friend Rashid Rana’s work, Quddus Mirza was asked to write on artist Adeela Suleman and Muhammad Hanif was also asked to chip in. She underlined the need for gatherings of writers, intellectuals and artists that were a regular feature before the ‘70s at Alhamra and similar venues, but was a rare sight now.

Ms Zahra called the book a wonderful translation. She said the book contained articles on visual artists by fiction writers, which again was a good experiment. Life itself is about art, she added. Through this book, she said, she came to know many women artists whom she did not know about before.

Critic and writer Nayyar said it was a non-traditional book on visual art, adding that there was a striking similarity between the themes and craft of visual art and fiction writing. He appreciated the articles written in the book on Kamila Shamsi, Imran Qureshi and Ayesha Khalid. He also echoed Ms Hashmi’s comment that in today’s time one rarely saw gatherings of writers, intellectuals, visual and performing artists and poets that were frequent in the past.

Another book launched at the festival was A Framework for Urban Conservation by Aga Khan Trust for Culture. The session was moderated by Maryam Rabi and panelists included Masood Khan, Nayyar Ali Dada, Christophe Boukau and Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA) Director General Kamran Lashari.

Masood Khan, a conservationist and architect from Aga Khan Trust for Culture, shed light on the Walled City’s conservation and the steps taken by the Aga Khan Trust to conserve important sites. He also discussed the 2008 strategic plan for the Walled City and the master plan of Lahore Fort.

Mr Lashari said one of the achievements of the WCLA was to bring back Aga Khan Trust for the conservation of various monuments. He said the authority had brought back richness and vibrancy to the Walled City while instilling civic sense and social mobility with close liaison between communities.

Nayyar Ali Dada underlined the need for solutions to maintain the old city. He cited an example of Naqsh School of Arts established by Syed Babar Ali that employed adaptive reuse of old city or monuments.

Architect Christophe Boukau termed the book a wonderful journey and discussed the process of conservation in the Walled City, adding that Lahore was a vibrant and full of life city.

Published in Dawn, February 22nd, 2020