Art brings Lahore’s Walled City to life

Brushsmith says thickly populated narrow streets, buildings have always inspired him

LAHORE: Anjum Zaheer’s solo art exhibition called Waikh Lahore, showcasing street life of the Walled City of Lahore, is on display at Zulfi’s Gallery. The show will continue till May 22. As many as 51 artworks of oil on canvas feature popular landmarks such as Lahori Gate, Kashmiri Gate, Wazir khan mosque and many others.

The artist, speaking about his inspiration, said he spent his entire childhood in the old city and the thickly populated narrow streets. He added the sky-high buildings always inspired him. He added that instead of playing marbles and other innocent childhood games, he always preferred to look at the old buildings and play with colours.



“Everybody gets inspired from their surroundings and in this regard, home has always played an important role for me”, he said. “I inherited the qualities and association with art from my artist father and uncle. Moreover, their passion and dedication for art greatly moved me during my childhood,” he added.

According to Anjum, he began his artistic journey in 1988 and has been painting scenes from the walled in various mediums and styles ever since. The artist also adopted the theme for his final thesis at the National College of Arts.

“In my paintings I have tried my best to depict the architectural style of these old buildings, along with the culture and lifestyle of their dwellers,” he said.

According to the artist, for his latest series of work, he has tried to focus on colours and light, as opposed to relatively dull settings in his previous work.

“Every part of our country is full of beautiful sceneries and has its own culture. These beautiful places and views attract everybody, he said.  “As an artist, I am always moved by these beautiful sceneries and naturally my surroundings around the walled city attracted me,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 14^th, 2017.