ISLAMABAD: Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) unveiled a solo exhibition Art from the Heart, by Naela Chohan who uses the medium of visual arts to counter narratives against Islam, Pakistan and women in general, by Muslim women particularly, on Tuesday.

Ms Chohan has dedicated her life towards issues related to gender inequality. The artist is deeply inspired by First Lady Samina Alvi’s commitment towards creating awareness about breast cancer, which is a serious issue globally.

First Lady Samina Alvi inaugurated the show and shared work done under the patronage of President Alvi and herself in the social sector, especially on breast cancer awareness, inclusion, and rights of persons with disabilities, and issues related to mental health.

“Pakistan has the highest rate of breast cancer mortality and morbidity in Asia with 90,000 cases reported annually and more than 40,000 deaths. Due to low health literacy, delay in the detection of early breast cancer is a growing concern for Pakistani women.

“On our directions, a structured country-wide mass awareness raising campaign was conducted through print, electronic and social media with the objective to sensitise women and girls about the early symptoms and to urge them to conduct monthly self-examinations. We were successful in our endeavours as a recently conducted study, by a screening centre in a public sector hospital revealed that 32pc of the respondents mentioned that media was their prime source of information on breast cancer and the reason for getting themselves screened,” she said.

A career diplomat and women’s rights advocate, Naela Chohan is an artist who has strived to create awareness about various social and humanitarian issues, particularly women’s issues, around the world, including at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) Headquarters in Paris.

Starting her career at Pakistan’s permanent mission at United Nations, New York, Naela realised the commonality of problems faced by women which were specific to neither any race nor any religion.

Being a Pakistani and Muslim woman, she was determined to use soft power, in addition to her diplomatic training to promote the image of her country and religion through the medium of visual art.

Although essentially a science student, Naela started her art training in Paris, France. She used this opportunity to do several courses. A seasoned and veteran foreign service officer, Naela assumed a leadership position in eight different Pakistani diplomatic missions on five different continents.

She was the first civilian woman to head the Pakistan National Authority on implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and had been the unanimously elected chairperson for three consecutive years of Asia Pacific Development Centre (APDC), Kuala Lumpur. She retired as Special Secretary Foreign Affairs.

Naela Chohan is an alumnus of Government College University for Women, Quaid-e-Azam University and the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

She speaks the language of art to create a realisation of universality of women’s issues, which are social and humanitarian in nature.

She donates one painting from each exhibition to charity, to help women around the world, and to promote a soft image of her country, Pakistan. The show will be open for the general public till March 9 at the National Art Gallery of PNCA.

During his welcome note, director general of PNCA, Ayub Jamali said PNCA is dedicated towards promoting Pakistani art on a local and international scale. Our unique programmes present traditional and contemporary art practices that reflect upon the excellence and cultural diversity of Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2023