Running online galleries is not the norm here. Can you relate briefly how Art Chowk evolved? Is it a collaboration? You are an established artist yourself, how has that contributed to this idea?

The idea of an online gallery was Camilla Hadi Chaudhary's (in 2007), who, as a collector living outside the country discovered the difficulty of accessing and viewing work remotely. Thus artchowk.com was created to provide an online platform to showcase the great narratives emerging out of Pakistan to a global market of international collectors and expatriate Pakistanis who want to be integrated into the local art scene. I personally have been involved from the start, from conceptual and structuring stages of the company and the website. My being an artist initially was very important in building the trust and credibility among the artist fraternity. We have been very fortunate to have come to the level now where non-Pakistani artists are also reaching out to us.

Online purchasing involves considerable documentation and verification, financial and otherwise. How different is the modus operandi of an online gallery vis-à-vis a regular gallery here where customers can view and buy artworks in the flesh?

All work that is placed on the website is kept with us physically and along with the artist's biography, is documented before going online. Artchowk.com also serves as an online resource for the artists represented with biographical data and profiling of the artist and their practice. All details of the artist and work (including prices) are available for viewing on the website along with professionally photographed images. The objective of the image is always to catch and represent the essence of the artwork. This can be tricky particularly for three-dimensional work and requires extensive effort on our part. From the user perspective, Artchowk.com is tailored to be user-friendly and interactive where patrons can become members for free and personalise the website with their preferences. Once purchased, the works can be shipped directly to the buyer. An Art Chowk authentication certificate accompanies every work sold.

Which foreign countries have you dealt with? Do you encounter difficulties in your international sales? How do you guarantee customer satisfaction, safe delivery and authentication of artwork and conversely and how do you protect yourself from fraudulent customers?

Our website has a global reach. We have shipped work right across from North America to Hong Kong. It makes it very exciting, as there is no way of knowing where the next buyer will be from. A testament to our hard-earned success is that we have been able to persuade customers through personal interaction that the image reflects the true nature of the work, and thankfully we have had no complaints. To avoid the risk of fraud, works are shipped once payment is received. The element of trust goes both ways. We have been very fortunate in our dealings both with buyers and artists.

How do you select your art—is it personal choices or market demand?

The team comprises Camilla Hadi Chaudhary, Bushra Hussain and myself. We curate the work for the website jointly. Our main criterion is quality on which we do not compromise. So far we have covered sculpture and all media and styles of two dimensional work. Our upcoming shows will include multimedia installations.

Briefly describe Art chowk's recent expansion from onscreen to actual space.

Artchowk the gallery is an integral part of the online gallery. All works shown on site are available at the gallery, and all shows curated at the gallery, appear on the site as the current exhibition. We found it a very natural step to go from a virtual to a physical gallery, enabling us to curate thematic shows. The gallery opened its doors in October 2009 with' Out of Balochistan' by the two brothers, Akram Dost and Jamil Baloch. 'Being a man in Pakistan' followed it with works developed by four young artists Faraz Ali, Wajid Ali, Naseer Bhurgri and Adeeluz Zafar. The exhibition studied the question of what it means to be a man in present-day society. Our upcoming show, 'Homepage', is our first international show comprising five young women artists from Pakistani, India, China and Taiwan, who live and practise in London. As all the artists live away from their homes, they study the issue of identity from an external viewpoint.

Our future plans also include using our gallery as a multipurpose space dedicated to supporting art and culture in the country with related events. These will be supported by the website by providing similar online coverage and discussion possibilities.