Lost grandeur: Preserving history with pen and ink

Rauf Ahmed Mughal displays his work at GCU’s Minhas Art Gallery

LAHORE: The images portraying historical sites in Lahore and India are on display at Government College University’s Minhas Art Gallery.

The show, which commenced on December 15, features 20 pen-and-ink pieces by Rauf Ahmed Mughal.

Former National College of Arts principal Sajjad Kausar inaugurated the exhibition.

“In the digital era, the artist has worked manually to depict old buildings,” GCU Fine Arts Department chairperson Erfanullah Babar said. “He has used the sepia colour that adds to the antique quality of a picture and refreshes old memories,” he said.

Babar said the artist drew a unique frame in his work which distinguished him from others. “I believe the new generation, particularly the Ravians, will take a lot of inspiration from his work. Such skills cannot be overshadowed by digital technology.”

“I had held my first solo exhibition in 1991. I was still a student at that time,” said Mughal who did his MFA from the Punjab University in 1993.

“Since then I have been painting historical buildings. Such buildings are losing their grandeur over time,” he said. Mughal said that if one looked at his past work (when he had painted the Rawat Fort), one would notice that the fort was in a better shape at the time. “Now its entrance has lost its original look.”

“If you look at Rohtas Fort, you will notice that many of its gates have sustained damage. I have all its history documented in my drawings,” he said.

The artists said his paintings were an attempt to preserve the fading history. Apart from Pakistan, Mughal said, he had painted some buildings in Sri Lanka.

“I make my own ink for these drawings. The one available in the market doesn’t work well, especially when you have to refill the pen.” He said the particular colour he used was also not available commercially. “I made the ink according to the pen I use,” said Mughal.

He said he tried to draw antique frames that went well with the historical architecture of the buildings. “This spares me from using fancy frames to hang my drawings,” he said. He said it usually took him two to three weeks to finish a painting. “It can take longer when I don’t feel like finishing it,” he said smiling. “I started working on these images in 2013. Of the 30 pieces I made, 20 are on display here,” he said.

The exhibition will continue until December 30.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 18^th, 2015.