LAHORE, Oct 21: Eight old masters and as many young artists from five South Asian nations - India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan - will display their selected works at an exhibition entitled "Old Masters , Young Voices: South Asian Art" beginning at the Alhamra Art Council on Nov 23.

The two-day first-of-its-kind art exhibition is being organized by the Chief Minister's Task Force on Lahore (CMTL).

"Although the exhibition has no formal theme, it will serve as a dialogue between old masters and young artists," said CMTL member Salima Hashmi at a press briefing here on Thursday.

"By pairing an old master with a young contemporary artist, the exhibition will aim at showcasing evolution of the art movement in each participating Saarc country."

CMTL chairman Ghouse Akbar said it would be for the first time in the history of South Asia that legendary figures like M.F. Husain and Krishan Khanna from India, Gulgee, Shahid Sajjad and Khalid Iqbal from Pakistan, Kibria from Bangladesh, H.A. Karunaratne from Sri Lanka, and Shashi Bikram Shah from Nepal would present their art in their presence.

He said the young artists, who would accompany the old masters from their respective countries are: Atul Dodiya (India), Shashir Bhattacharya (Bangladesh), Sujan Chitrakar (Nepal), Anoli Perera (Sri Lanka) and Naiza Khan, Anwar Saeed, Rashid Rana and Bani Abidi (Pakistan).

Mr Akbar said the CMTL had raised Rs6.5 million, including Rs3.5 million contributed by a commercial bank, for holding the event. He said the Task force had also generated Rs3 million from the private sector to renovate the Alhamra Art Gallery within a month.

Later giving a presentation, Ms Hashmi said holding of this exhibition with the help of the private sector would usher in a new era in the field of art.

As artists and poets were generally remembered after their deaths, Ms Hashmi said, the exhibition would change this tradition as living old and young artists would be honoured. She also underscored the need to appreciate the work of young artists, who were using various modern techniques. Each old and young artist would display six to eight paintings at the exhibition.

Ms Hashmi said the Punjab Tourism Department had agreed to publish a brochure containing details about the exhibition as well as other displays being held simultaneously in different galleries in Lahore.

She said the CMTL would like that people from all walks of life visit the exhibition to meet artists from South Asia.

Ms Hashmi said very little curatorial work had been done despite the fact that there were hundreds of artists in Pakistan. She announced that the Art India magazine would launch its special Pakistan issue during the exhibition. Similarly, she said, the editor of a Bangladeshi art magazine Jamini had agreed to bring its special Pakistan issue in February, which would cover this event.

Answering a question, she said, there was no art magazine in Pakistan. The issue of launching an art magazine here needed patronage, she added.