KARACHI: A large number of friends, colleagues, admirers and family members of eminent artist Imran Mir (1950 – 2014) gathered at the Arts Council of Pakistan to celebrate his 75th birth anniversary.

The event constituted of a panel discussion participated by art lovers, practitioners and critics Nafisa Rizvi, Durriya Kazi, Shahid Abdullah, Noorjehan Bilgrami, Quddus Mirza, Kiran Ahmed and the late artist’s son Gibran Mir.

The marked feature of the programme was a discussion between Kiran Ahmed and Gibran Mir. Kiran Ahmed said Imran Mir shaped the design culture in Pakistan, something that is not talked about often.

In response to a question about how he pushed boundaries, Gibran Mir told a story from the difficult period of the 1980s when his father was working for a brand that sold lingerie. “It was hard to figure out how to do that. He combined his inquisitiveness and his love for geometry, and laid the bits and pieces of cloth in a very interesting manner.”

Answering a question about his response to global aesthetics, Gibran Mir said he felt like we could be world class. “For example, when he began working for the Herald, making layouts for the magazine, he asked to submit them to international competitions. Dawn won awards in three different years.”

He said the artist also brought the same approach to Pakistan as he helped set up a fast food chain in the country which many thought was global.

Artist Noorjehan Bilgrami said her association with Imran Mir went back over 54 years. Both had studied together at the Central Institute of Arts and Crafts (CIAC) in 1971. He was studying communication design and she was a fine arts student. She said he was a man of few words, he would sit quietly, delivering witty lines, almost inaudible, making everyone double up in laughter. “It continued till the end.”

Ms Bilgrami said the CIAC was an institution that brought out the very best in the students. “Imran’s drawings even at that time stood out, mostly caricatures of colleagues and faculty. With a continuous long line on the paper, he would capture the essence of a person really beautifully.” She then talked about Imran Mir’s fascination for plants ending her address by saying, “He left this world too soon… With Imran, what you see is what you see.”

Durriya Kazi shed light on Imran Mir’s creative output.

Quddus Mirza spoke about Imran Mir’s interests in architecture and horticulture etc, and his penchant for minimalist art.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2025