ILF: The evolving landscape

ILF session talks about progress and obstacles within the arts.

ISLAMABAD:

In a nation where much of the brunt of development falls on the shoulders of those disillusioned with governance, it is almost unsurprising that the patronage of art too, remains largely a private enterprise.

At a four-person panel aimed at dissecting the evolving landscape of art, the absence of cataloguing and of a public space to preserve and promote traditional and contemporary art was lamented, suggesting that while private platforms for art were necessitated in such a void, the culture of museums and therefore the academic realm of the arts remained at a disadvantage.



“Privates galleries have mushroomed and art schools are producing more artists but academically we are still lacking,” expressed Rumana Hussain, the senior editor of Nuqta, a bi-annual magazine that reviews contemporary art and was founded more than a decade ago as a response to the lack of artistic discourse within the public sphere.

“Finding qualified writers and art critics has been a great challenge,” shared Hussain explaining that there was a need to create an engaging space for them, and often, to nurture them.  The Karachi-based editor feels that research in the arts, or cataloguing or work is almost absent despite the volume of students graduating from art institutions across Pakistan, whose body of work is not preserved or shared for the benefit of the evolution of the discipline as a whole.

Artist and museologist, Shireen Ikramullah suggested that museum culture was missing within the academic pursuit of art, and the motivation, and often facilities, to database the work of master artists was entirely lacking.

“Until we come to term with our identity, we cannot understand art, nationalism or religion,” shared noted calligraphist Rasheed Butt, who has not been invited to speak on an artistic platform before this, despite 50 years of working in Islamabad.

“Zainab has more information on existing artists than the National Art Gallery does,” he said, pointing to the moderator, Zainab Omar, who is currently working on putting together an online database of artists.

“Private individuals have stepped into the space left vacant by the government,” added Asma Khan, founder and director of the Satrang Gallery in Serena where exhibitions and artist talks aim to gather students, art collectors, buyers and lovers under a single intellectual roof.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 28^th, 2014.