ISLAMABAD: Tanzara Gallery on Friday announced the opening of a new exhibition, “Unveiling Persia”, a celebration of beauty, geometry and cultural legacy through the artworks of Shakil Saigol.
The gallery said Persia had long been a centre of beauty, intellect and artistic innovation. In “Unveiling Persia,” Saigol responded to that enduring legacy through an artist’s lens, discovering in its monuments, craftsmanship and refined visual order a culture that continues to resonate with extraordinary clarity.
The exhibition reflects a journey where history remains alive in pattern, form and imagination. Within the serenity of mosques, the elegance of palaces and gardens and the monumental presence of archaeological sites, Saigol encountered a language of geometry, precise, symbolic and endlessly expanding.
These patterns, built from fragments revealed through repetition, provide the foundation for his work.
The sarees in this exhibition reinterpret Persian tile work, shifting it from ceramic to fabric. Saigol’s translation preserves the sophistication of the original while granting it movement and tactility, shaping a contemporary expression of a centuries-old aesthetic.
“Unveiling Persia” does not attempt to capture the vastness of a civilisation whose influence spanned millennia and continents. Instead, it offers a thoughtful tribute, a glimpse into the imagination and craftsmanship that continue to define the splendour of Persia.
On opening day, the artist told guests, “My inspiration for the sarees came from the wealth of tile designs, some in gravity-defying relief. The intricacy of the design is complex. One tile alone is perhaps only a fourth of the whole pattern, as in most Islamic designs. I have attempted to incorporate some of these tile patterns into the sarees, transitioning from ceramic to fabric.”
According to Saigol, the Persian aesthetic is so evolved and the sensibilities so refined that this body of work barely scratches the surface of the magnificence of the Persian experience.
In his statement, the artist explained that over two millennia of excellence in architecture, literature, textiles and ceramics bear testimony to the creative genius of Persian imagination. “My effort is a humble tribute,” he said.
Karachi-based artist Shakil Saigol was born in Kolkata in 1944. He graduated from Government College, Lahore and later studied History at Queen’s College, Oxford. Coming from a family that made its fortune in the textile industry, Saigol chose in his forties to pursue his art practice and exhibited his works for the first time at the Lahore Art Gallery in 1991.
Since then, his works have been shown in several national and international exhibitions to critical acclaim and are part of various collections in Pakistan and abroad, notably in India, Britain, the USA, Italy, Germany, Poland, Switzerland and the UAE.
Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2025