KARACHI: The mayhem and destruction caused by torrential rains on Aug 27 in Karachi wasn’t just confined to people’s life and property, a loss that itself is irreparable and huge by any stretch of the imagination; it went farther than that. The downpour also destroyed invaluable creative output of some immensely talented people. One of them is senior artist Wasi Haider.

Haider’s studio is situated in the basement of a building on Chhota Bukhari DHA Phase VI. On that fateful day at 11.30am, when the rain gained momentum, water began to pour into his studio and in no time it was filled with water to the top. There were thousands of drawings, sketches and paintings made by the artist as well as artworks from his personal collection made by the masters — all were destroyed.

Talking to Dawn Haider said, “I have this studio for the last 12 years where I’d been working without any trouble. Never in the past did rainwater bother me. This was the first time that the water entered the premises with great rapidity. When I first stepped into the basement, it wasn’t that much, so I, with the help of my son, took out seven or eight paintings and placed them outside safely. When I again walked into the basement, the water had reached waist-high. It had become dangerous because of electricity issues. I came out. But in an hour the water touched the roof. For three days I couldn’t walk into my studio. Even the roads outside had two to three-foot high water. On the fourth day I used a pump to drain it all out.”

Haider said there were approximately 7,000 paintings and drawings done on paper. They’ve all become a big mush. Some of those done on canvas have been saved but they too are in a terrible state.

Haider claimed the destroyed pieces were worth four to five crore rupees. It included his own material and paintings made by master artists such as Jamil Naqsh, Mansoor Aye and Tassaduq Sohail from his personal collection. Now, he likens them to a piece of dough.

One would have thought that the tragedy would have unhinged the artist. But he is standing his ground trying to come to terms with the loss. The artist community was kind enough to call him up and inquire about his well-being. Will the government and its culture department do that?

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2020