AJ Shemza’s paintings returned to heirs
“Every life is valuable, however, the Quetta massacre is agonising due to the fact that many members of the intelligentsia having social acumen lost their lives,” said Singer Shahida Mini. PHOTO: FILE
The apex arts council and operator of the National Art Gallery have finally broken its silence on reports swirling around the fate of 10 artworks by legendary artist Anwar Jalal Shemza, confirming that they have been returned to his family and defended the move as the resolution of ‘gross negligence in the past’.
In a statement issued on Friday, Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) Director-General Dr Fouzia Saeed, she clarified the stance of the council.
Dr Saeed stated that Mery, the wife of Anwar Jalal (AJ) Shemza, had brought an exhibition of her husband to his native Pakistan in 1985, consisting of more than 100 pieces of art, titled Roots.
With Shemza having passed away before the exhibition of a heart attack, the PNCA administrators of the time had approached Mery for some of the artworks.
Citing records of the council, the PNCA chief said that Mery had been asked to donate five drawings and five paintings.
After returning to London, Mery demanded the return of the paintings. However, after three years, Dr Saeed said, artist Ghulam Rasool - who was in charge of the PNCA and the National Art Gallery at the time - offered her Rs40,000 for the artworks and explained that the council did not have many resources.
“The offer of a price to purchase the paintings on a PNCA letterhead, properly signed, itself is yet another proof that the paintings were not gifted,” Dr Saeed stated, as she refuted the claims made by some quarters, terming them as “trouble-making factions”.
“It surprises me to read the reaction from certain quarters upon returning of paintings to Mery by PNCA after she loaned it to the institution 35 years ago,” Dr Saeed wrote in the statement.
For many years Mery kept demanding the paintings back, the PNCA chief said.
On the legal front, Dr Saeed said that In 2017, the late Asma Jahangir had sent a legal notice to the then PNCA DG Jamal Shah on behalf of Mery, but no progress was made.
“This was a task that should have been done decades ago. Keeping someone’s artwork by force without their consent or remuneration is a violation of the artist’s rights,” Dr Saeed asserted.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 26th, 2020.