Born in a period when the state punished progressive and free thought, one of the city’s most recognisable art galleries turned 30 this year. In celebration of Rohtas Gallery’s anniversary, the National Art Gallery will host an exhibition of 160-plus works by 64 artists from Monday.
The month-long exhibition will be opened by Brazilian Ambassador Alfredo Leoni. Curated by Quddus Mirza — an artist, art critic and professor of art — the exhibition features more than 160 works created by 65 Pakistani artists in a tribute to Rohtas Gallery and its contribution to the development of contemporary art and artists in the country.
Rohtas Gallery opened its doors in 1981, at the height of General Ziaul Haq’s martial law, to offer a space for progressive thought, nurture creativity, and celebrate art and culture.
Naeem Pasha, architect and gallery founder, along with a group of friends that included Shoaib and Salima Hashmi , Ahmed Khan and Zahoorul Akhlaq held a brainstorming session to decide a vision for the gallery.
They decided it would be a modern contemporary art gallery primarily presenting the works of Pakistani artists, dedicated to creativity and artistic excellence.
“Thirty years have gone, but a whole lifetime is ahead of us,” said Naeem Pasha. “The early years of the 1970s were a time of hope and new possibilities, but then martial law’s hell broke loose.”
“Salima was my fellow conspirator in this subversive activity of opening the art gallery,” he reminisces.
“The doors were open to art and artists who may not find venues to display their work and their expression which began to be expunged will have a space without somebody looking over their shoulder. But the fact is they were looking over our shoulders. It was our young bravado that kept the doors open, and those doors are still open,” he said.
Describing the 1980s as years when Pakistani art changed and began to assert itself as an expression separate from all else, Pasha said he “used to argue that repression breeds art. The reaction to repression wakes up the repressed to express themselves more forcefully and as a result, Pakistan has very relevant and vibrant artistic imagery which can now be witnessed at home and around the globe.”
Since that time, the Gallery has become synonymous with innovative, non-conventional expression. It hosts six to nine exhibitions a year and allows artists from Pakistan, Britain, Germany, Spain, Portugal and the United States to share their paintings, graphics, sculptures, ceramics, photographs and experimental work with the public.
In the process, it has made art more accessible to the Pakistani public, nurtured emerging young artists, and served as one of the few public venues where Pakistanis and members of the international community can socialise and get to know each other in an informal setting, beyond the worlds of business and diplomacy.
“Gallery openings in those days were a scene to be witnessed. Art enthusiasts, both local and expatriates, and especially youngsters would flock to the exhibition. It was a place where envoys of different countries would try to beat each other to be there,” Pasha said.
Rohtas Gallery, as a public space known for free and open discourse, has also sought to expand to include an arts and cultural centre, Rohtas Rawan, outside the capital. Here, residencies will offer artists of every discipline and from both Pakistan and abroad a place to gather, create, inspire and collaborate.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 24th, 2012.
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