ISLAMABAD, Nov 1: Why does one need to unveil what is visible? We may be aware of all the beauties of the world but how many of us are moved by all this? We live wall to wall with poverty but how many of us do feel it? These and other questions were put to an audience, including some of the art glitterati of the capital, by intellectual, Aslam Azhar, while speaking at the launch of Salima Hashmi’s book here on Thursday.

Explaining his points he said: “That is because we take it for granted”.

Introducing the book, Unveiling the visible, lives and works of women artists of Pakistan, he said art and artist opens our eyes of mind, interprets beauty, ugliness, poverty for us.

It is not a book, it’s a saga of women painters of Pakistan of the last 50 years, said Aslam Azhar. Through this book, Salima Hashmi has bought to us women who have gone unsung until this book arrived. Women who started their lives some fifty years ago only as teachers of art and rarely ever as practitioner of art.

It is a serious book to be studied. Every one of the biographical essays in it has a story of artists bringing up children and husbands. The women artists have to deal with all of this along with fulfilling their inner urges to creativity. “The book has been written in beautiful English as if it was her first language, but then, what can you expect from the daughter of Faiz,” Mr Azhar extolled.

Art provides an individual with great amount of strength. Salima writes about the political process our society has been through and the individuals who have fought back.

Fauzia Saeed of ActionAid introducing the writer.

Unless people are in touch with their own selves, it is difficult to create a space for themselves. She has documented women who have created a space in their lives and a society which otherwise would not have survived if that space was curtailed. Through her writing we get to know where our society is heading to.

The 212-page book has been published by ActionAid.

An inspiration for her students at the National College of Arts where she taught Fine Arts, Salima is an activist of human rights, in general, and women’s right, in particular.

That creative self-expression can help a person to sense their own power, to realize who they are in relation to the larger system and subsequently to lay claim to their rights. The example contained in this collection give testimony to the truth of this assumption, said Salima.

The book has two portions: The first two-and-a-half decades have been dedicated to women painters who more over taught art. While the second half is about the contemporary women artists who boldly depicted issues like women’s acceptance, rejection, humiliation and exploitation in society. Starting with Zubaida Agha and Ana Molka Ahmed, she came down to the works of the contemporary artists like Naheed Reza, Qudsia Nisar, Mehr Afroz, Sumaya Durrani.

Based on interviews, Unveiling the Visible, is a survey of the last 50 years, covering the work of over 50 artists belonging to three generations. “Unfortunately the context has not changed,” Salima concluded by showing a slide of sculpture done by Ruby Chishti a contemporary artist. The title said, I will be born a thousand times, No matter how you celebrate my birth.—Huma Khawar