Old but gold: To highlight the beauty of Pakistan, faded pictures go up on display

The three-day exhibition features pictures of multiple artists.

ISLAMABAD:

One would not expect seemingly ancient pictures to become part of an exhibition trying to woo visitors to tourist spots across the country.

But then, in the words of Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) Managing Director Shajahan Khetran, “the places in our country have not changed, [so] what’s the point of taking new pictures when we are portraying the same places?”

The decision to put up old pictures taken off from motel walls across the country might even seem apt, given the reality we now live in.

There was a time when Swedish backpackers and mountaineers were a common sight up north. In 1990, crew of the British film K2 came to Skardu to shoot for months and stayed at the PTDC Skardu motel without any security concerns.

But that was a long time ago, before 9/11 and the ensuing war on terror and its repercussions.  The irony in the similarity between the faded pictures and many of the tourist spots up north was not lost.

What did seem lost was the exhibit’s aim to create awareness about the various tourist spots in Pakistan: there were very few people at the PNCA gallery, and not a single foreigner in sight. Perhaps the same level of commitment went into advertising the exhibit as arranging pictures for it.

Ayisha, one of the few people in attendance, said: “I feel like a lot more needs to be done to promote tourism. One exhibition a year is not enough. Yes, some of these pictures are remarkable, but how many are even here to witness it?”

In all fairness, Afzal Chaudhry’s photograph of two foreign performers standing with their foreheads touching was excellent. The photographs by Rana Mukhtar and Hamid Hasan also seemed to be crowd favourites.

Some people were drawn to the captivating shots of the Karakoram range and Sindhi women dressed in colourful garbs carrying earthen pots. Others were attracted to a range of colourful pictures depicting young rural children playing in the fields with carefree expressions.

Names of some photographers were missing from their pictures. But then who remembers the photographer behind a decades-old picture?

How exactly PTDC aims to attract people up north with such a half-baked attempt, is something that is not immediately clear.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2012.