ISLAMABAD, May 30: The Senate standing committee on culture has urged the ministry of culture not to wait for the completion of the National Art Gallery and open its galleries already set up for public viewing.

“There are 12 galleries which have already been opened for public viewing. And diplomats and locals have been visiting the shows and appreciating them,” said former principal of the National College of Arts (NCA) Salima Hashmi, who attended the meeting as member of the NAG board of governors.

“The much delayed NAG should at least have a soft opening. Children have their holidays and let people come with their families to experience the region’s art scene,” she said.

Ms Hashmi said the committee had asked the ministry of culture to urge President Musharraf to inaugurate the gallery by June 15.

The committee at a meeting on Tuesday took up important matters concerning NAG including its delayed opening and the irregular meetings of its board of governors and insurance of paintings worth millions of rupees.

Committee member Mohammad Enver Baig pointed out that the tenure of a majority of the BoG members had expired and demanded that the ministry should constitute new BoG without delay. The ministry of culture assured the committee that the gallery would function according to its mission statement. It sections would only serve as interim arrangements for performing arts until the land adjacent to the gallery was acquired and a separate architecture built.

Besides being given assurances that the budget allocated for NAG would be reserved only for the gallery, the committee was also assured that the special spaces such as the photography room, honour galleries and the conservation room would not accommodate performing arts activities and would only be used for the purpose they were designed for.

Federal Minister for Culture Dr G.G. Jamal dispelled the impressions that the government intended to change the gallery’s name or was in any way desirous of shifting its focus.

Representatives from Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) also told the committee that under the new insurance policy, valuable works by artists would be covered until July 15, 2007. PNCA had earlier borrowed works worth millions of rupees until May 30, 2007, the date on which their insurance policy expired.

The meeting chaired by Senator Zafar Iqbal Chaudhary observed that NAG was a symbol of creative expression of the people and a national asset. There was a dire need for a national platform that could provide a forum for the artists.