MULTAN, Dec 9: The Art gallery of the Multan Arts Council has been named after Zawar Husain, a renowned literary figure who had recently passed away.

The maestro was remembered at a ceremony held at the gallery on Monday with District Nazim Riaz Husain Qureshi in the chair. Intellectuals, writers, journalists, artists and Zawar’s admirers from all walks of life attended the ceremony.

Paying tributes to the late artist, the Nazim recalled that when he was the chairman of the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation some time ago, he happened to meet renowned artist Gul Gee in Karachi. He said Gul Gee inquired about Zawar and remarked “he was burying his art in Multan, as had he lived in Lahore or Karachi he would have been the most sought-after artist of the country.”

The Nazim said it was a great honour for him to name the Art Gallery after Zawar Husain, who was a true mystic above worldly gains. He underlined the need to do research on the work and thoughts of Zawar, urging upon the Bahauddin Zakariya University academics to play their due role in this regard.

He announced that a Zawar Husain chair would be established at the proposed Multan College of Arts while the district government would publish all of his books, which are yet to be taken to press.

Senior lawyer Pervez Aftab pointed out that Zawar did most of his paintings in the last four years of his life in blue colour that was considered to be the most difficult colour to handle even among the past masters. He said Zawar, being a mystic, directly experienced things rather than experimenting on them.

Noted writer Dr Aslam Ansari remembered Zawar as a man, who gave Multan “a significance after centuries and made the city comparable to Paris, Rome and other great centres of art in the world.”

Zawar Husain’s only son, Musa Raza, said on this occasion that the only concern his father sometimes had was about his limited resources that did not allow him to publish his books and paint to his potential.

Prominent among other speakers were Shakir Husain Shakir, Raziuddin Razi, Shagufta Khaksar, Mushtaq Sheda, Sibtain Raza Lodhi, Ariful Islam and Ibne Kaleem.

Painter, sculptor, poet and philosopher Zawar Husain died on Dec 2 last at the age of 73. Although he died in Pakistan in obscurity, his paintings are displayed in many of the world’s renowned art galleries.