HYDERABAD, July 6 The Institute of Art and Design of the University of Sindh on Monday opened a one-month training workshop on miniature painting in a bid to revive Mogul-era art with introduction of new techniques and modern subjects.

Dr Mohammad Ali Bhatti, senior faculty of the institute and resource person of the workshop, said that Mogul miniature art was known as Muslim art, which was promoted by Mogul emperor Humayoon in the Indian subcontinent.

He said that the art was introduced by Mir Syed Ali, Bahzad and other artists in the subcontinent who were invited by Humayoon from Iran. He said that this genre of art was popular up to the Aurangzeb period. At that time the artists worked on specific subjects like flowers, hunting and plants, he said.

He said that contemporary miniature painting was popular in Pakistan especially in Lahore even this day.

Another resource person Safdar Qureshi, a well-known young artist from Lahore, said that miniature art was the original Muslim art and it did not belong to Europe. During Mogul period 10 to 15 artists worked on paintings in a group or individually, he said.

He said that today artists worked on it by using old techniques with modern touch on subjects like culture, traditions and politics.

Pro-Vice Chancellor Dr Rafia Ahmed Shaikh who inaugurated the workshop praised efforts of the Institute of Art and Design for promotion of Islamic art and emphasised the need for introduction of miniature painting as a discipline.

She said that art and music occupied a special place in the society and appealed directly to people's minds and souls.

She said that paintings of Mogul period would be collected for preservation at the Institute of Sindhology and copies of books on the subject lying in different libraries would be brought together in the university's central library.—Bureau