KARACHI: It was thoughtful on the part of the Arts Council of Pakistan’s Fine Art Committee to arrange a tribute to one of the living legends of Pakistani art, Nahid Raza, on Thursday evening. A decent number of her colleagues, students and admirers spoke on the occasion.

Painter and poet Moeen Faruqi said when he returned from abroad after acquiring higher education he used to write on art. Ms Raza at the time was a prolific painter. She was very impressive and encouraging. “Once I criticised her a bit in my write-up. She called me the next day and praised me for it.”

Painter Tanweer Farooqi said Ms Raza was one of the few women painters when he started off as an artist. What she was doing was impressive.

Arts Council’s President Ahmed Shah said Ms Raza has a long association with the council. She was a student at here and taught at the cultural space as well.

Speakers recall her pioneering work as one of the few women artists of her time

“She is a wonderful artist of this country. For whatever time period she remained with the council, she did a fine job. We invite singers to perform at cultural platforms, gather dozens of poets to display their talent but as far as painting is concerned things aren’t that encouraging. We don’t acknowledge artists, be it a painter or a sculptor, in a befitting manner. When she [Ms Raza] burst onto the art scene in the 1970s very few girls used to paint. Now things have changed as many girls have joined the creative field because they’re inspired by people like Ms Raza,” he said.

Ms Raza’s film-maker son, Azfar Ali, in a video message went down memory lane to talk about the time when she would paint until 5am and then in a couple hours prepare him to go to school. She would take him to school and herself go for teaching. In the afternoon, she would pick her son back up and bring him home.

Media practitioner Khursheed Hyder said Ms Raza has done a lot of things in her life. “I feel there’s sadness in her paintings. The way one copes in life gets reflected in one’s art.”

Dinaz Gandhi highlighted how good a teacher Ms Raza was when Ms Gandhi was her student as a child.

Artist Wahab Jaffer, in his message from abroad, said he first met Ms Raza in 1972. She at the time had made a few series; he liked her Chawkandi series in particular. He remarked, “She is one of the legends.”

Painter Ghalib Baqar said artists portray the pain and suffering that they go through in life. And Ms Raza has done that.

Ms Raza in her speech thanked the council for organising the tribute show. She said it’s important to acknowledge artists’ worth. “It is essential that we understand the importance of art the way it should be understood.”

M Zeeshan, A S Rind, Bakh Pirzada, Munawwar Ali Syed and others also spoke. Shakil Khan moderated the event.

Published in Dawn, July 5th, 2024