A park, pigeons and a maestro’s forgotten art

A pigeon peeped in through the ventilator before it flew across the gigantic hall - the grey a blur in motion, contrasting against the vivid colours of the ceiling. It was not too long before others joined it, the flapping of their wings echoing across the otherwise almost silent hall - actually an art gallery.

They gathered at a corner of the massive mural spread across the room's ceiling - a masterpiece by Sadequain that continues to be one of the most valuable yet ignored features of Karachi's island park at Frere Hall.

The famous artist's brushstrokes looked down upon the dreary gallery, which has been serving as an avenue for many an emerging artist to display their talent under his imposing shadow. And even then, it has been in bad shape for years.

On the ground, some workers removed the white carpet that distinguished the hall from the green-carpeted corridor, which, too, was losing its carpet. Meanwhile, canvases were stacked in a corner, leaving the walls bare.

Finally, it seems, the much neglected gallery is in for an overhaul.

Appreciating the authorities' move to restore the gallery, a visitor, Noorul Ameen, related he last visited it in January. "That was my first visit after six years and I was surprised to see its condition."

"[But] this is just the cleaning of the gallery and it will soon be restored to its original shape," said newly appointed Karachi administrator and former city commissioner Iftikhar Shallwani, when approached on the matter. He told The Express Tribune that he planned to restore the gallery to its past glory.

Earlier, after a viral video sparked an outcry over the gallery's condition on social media, he tweeted: "The Frere Hall mural is safe - nothing wrong and no damage - some vested interests who wanted to build a fencing /boundary around the Frere Hall garden to stop public entry have been stopped from doing so - hence the media campaign."

According to workers present there, they had begun the restoration work last week, soon after heavy downpours left the gallery in an even worse state.

Prior to that, the gallery had remained closed for weeks during a lockdown. When it reopened, though, its dilapidated walls and dusty windows could have misled anyone into believing that it had been closed for years.

However, another worker claimed the gallery was never closed during the lockdown.

What then happened, besides rain, to leave it in such a condition?

"Honestly, it was never restored, neither given any attention," a senior Karachi Metropolitan Corporation employee, who requested anonymity, told The Express Tribune. "Not a single penny has been spent [on Frere Hall's restoration] over the last four years," he claimed, adding that the renovation was only initiated recently.

However, it was not until Friday that its state, and particularly the condition of Sadequain's famed mural, caught the media's attention, when a video of the gallery went viral on social media.

"Media persons have rushed in today, but our work must continue," said a busy worker. "Look at the mural," he pointed to the majestic ceiling. "It is the same as it was in the eighties."

But there was a difference - if not for the mural's gradually fading hues, then for the pigeons that have found a new abode there.

According to one of the workers, the netting blocking the openings were badly damaged during the recent rains, "leaving huge spaces open for birds to enter and make nests in the gallery's nooks and crannies."

Pointing to a ventilation space serving as the pigeons' entrance into the hall, he said, "Look at the net. They [pigeons] are entering from there and I have never seen this happen before."

However, he assured that it would soon be fixed, adding that he believed the pigeons incapable of causing any damage to the mural.

Oblivious to this belief, pigeons continued to nest and flap about in their new, albeit temporary, home.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 26^th, 2020.