Painting by prisoners

Exhibition at Karachi central jail displays a total of 92 paintings by the prisoners.

Karachi recently played host to an art exhibition with a difference. It wasn’t hosted at a glitzy gallery frequented by the who’s who of society. Instead, this exhibition took place within the forbidding walls of Karachi central jail, and the artists were the prisoners themselves.

The administration of the Karachi Central Jail came up with the idea of exhibiting paintings by the jail inmates. A total of 92 paintings were on display in the exhibition.

Unsurprisingly, the art reflects themes of isolation and captivity, mirroring the lives of the inmates themselves.

A sense of deprivation reflected from these paintings.

Not surprisingly, prisoners as the third grade citizens. Every inmate has a unique story of how he got into the crisis. But the theme of captivity remains the same. Prisoner Naveed Ali Rizvi’s work depicts how one can be alone even when surrounded by all the colours of the world. Talking about his painting, Rizvi says that even those who had promised to be loyal to you will abandon you in the end.

Ghulam Mustafa who has been sentenced to 25 years, also participated in the exhibition. In his work he says he is trying to show the political background of the world, and that sometimes what is apparent to our eyes is not the actual reality.

The playwright Fatima Surriyya Bajia, who attended the exhibition praised it as a positive step towards the reform of the artists. The proceeds from the sale of the paintings will be given to the inmates.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 20^th, 2011.