Painting on camel skin: Qatar emir to get special gift from PM

Portrait made by artist Hanif Khan was commissioned by ministry of information


Zulfiqar Baig June 22, 2019
Prominent artist Hanif Khan made portrait on vase made with camel's skin. PHOTO: EXPRESS

ISLAMABAD: As a goodwill gesture, Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who arrived in Islamabad Saturday, will be presented with a special portrait of himself by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The painting has been made on a camel skin vase by artist Hanif Khan.

It was commissioned to the prominent artist by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to promote bilateral and cultural ties between the two countries.

PHOTO: EXPRESS

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Hanif said that the special task, assigned to him by the ministry's Lok Virsa department, was challenging but an honour for him.

MoUs signed as Qatar's emir arrives on two-day visit to Pakistan

Hanif, who has been painting for years, said he also made a portrait of Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman.

The artist said that he wanted to present the painting to the Qatari ruler himself; however, he was not granted permission due to security reasons.

"I am paid Rs20,000 for each portrait of prominent personalities... it requires a lot of rigorous work, and special colours are used which last up to 30 to 40 years," he said.

COMMENTS (1)

kadwa sach | 5 years ago | Reply How ghastly! Painting on a camel skin! Why do you have to kill, degrade and humiliate a noble animal that serves mankind? Could this painting not be made on some object other than the skin of an animal that was slaughtered? In this day and age of vanishing specimens of animals, any slaughter of animals is a sacrilege. Pakistanis have this morbid fascination with killing animals. I witnessed with my own eyes two years ago how a Pakistani and his other - mostly uneducated - countrymen slit the throat of a goat in a European country where police had to be called by the horrified neighbours. The practice of slaughtering animals outside an abattoir is taboo in the civilized world.
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