LAHORE: A magnificent exhibition of paintings titled “Nana visits Lahore Museum, Festival of Lahore,” by internationally acclaimed watercolourist Dr Ajaz Anwar opened at the City Heritage Museum, The Mall (Tollinton), on Thursday.

The exhibition was inaugurated by Lahore Museum Director Saman Rai flanked by Dr Ajaz Anwar. A number of visual artists, students and faculty from different educational institutions came to see artworks.

The City Heritage Museum was a happening place amidst live orchestra playing traditional tunes of famous songs such as Lung aa Ja Patan Chana Da and Husan-i- Jana Ki Tareef Mumkin Nahi.

Twenty-eight paintings and 181 prints on display depicted the Lahore’s [lost] grandeur and history. There were paintings on Basant, on daily life, on interaction of people. The paintings were also reflective of rich architecture of the Walled City. The paintings spanned between 1961 and 2019. Dr Ajaz displayed his solo exhibition at Tollinton after a gap of 15 years. Earlier, he had displayed his work at the same venue in 2004.

There was another section dedicated to caricatures of Anwar Ali popularly known as Nannah, the illustrious cartoonist of his times and father of Dr Ajaz Anwar. The caricatures depicted the political turmoil of the era.

Saman Rai said: “We have especially invited musicians to make the event lively.”

Dr Ajaz Anwar read an article from his famous Punjabi book on Lahore Nai Reesaan Shehr Lahore Diyan.

Veteran artist Muhammad Javed from Coopera Art Gallery said Anwar’s paintings were in fact a historical document on Lahore depicting its [lost] architectural beauty.

Lahore Museum former director Saifur Rehman said both Dr Ajaz and his father Anwar Ali had one thing in common that they contributed a lot to the promotion of Punjabi language.

The exhibition will continue till April 8.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2019