Painting exhibition visualises collective memory

Lahore-based contemporary artist Imran Mughal's solo exhibition titled "Tales from the Inner Kingdom" has opened at Gallery 6 Islamabad.

The exhibition presents a vibrant body of work that draws upon folklore, popular culture, music, and personal imagination to create a unique visual language rooted in the cultural heritage of the subcontinent.

Born in 1987, Imran Mughal belongs to a new generation of Pakistani artists who confidently bridge tradition and contemporary expression. Holding both a BFA and MFA in Textile Art and Design from the University of the Punjab, Lahore, he brings a distinctive textile sensibility to his paintings through intricate patterns, layered surfaces and richly ornamented compositions. His practice reflects years of engagement with both fine art and design, resulting in works that are visually compelling and conceptually layered.

At the heart of Imran's artistic practice lies a fascination with the stories, symbols and visual traditions that shape collective memory. His paintings are populated by motifs drawn from folklore, indigenous culture, and popular imagery, yet they resist nostalgia. Instead, these elements are transformed through a fluid and intuitive process that the artist describes as "unconscious dictation", a spontaneous mode of image-making in which memories, emotions and ideas find visual form.

Music plays a central role in this "dictation". Much like a musical composition, Imran's paintings unfold rhythmically, allowing symbols, patterns, and narratives to interact freely across the picture plane. The result is a dreamlike world where inherited cultural references are reimagined rather than merely preserved.

The exhibition explores the tension between tradition and change. Imran questions inherited cultural codes and social conventions, proposing instead a more open and inclusive understanding of identity and creativity. Through his paintings, he invites viewers to enter an inner realm where imagination transcends boundaries and where cultural heritage becomes a source of renewal rather than restriction.