Bringing ghosts to life

Miniature artist Murad Khan Mumtaz paints the near-extinction of the native Americans.

KARACHI: “Ghost Nation” is not a whimsical journey down American history. When Murad Khan Mumtaz took inspiration from the Plains Indians to create his new series of paintings and drawings, it was a deliberate reference to the “desecration and degeneration of a primordiathe sl way of life” - something that Mumtaz believes has become an all too familiar narrative.

Drawing on his experiences during his travels to the American west, Mumtaz reflects on the traditions and iconography of a culture nearly demolished by “ruthless capitalist imperialism”.

His works examine “the uncomfortable space between conflicting value systems of traditional societies and global modernity”. Mumtaz ask us to ponder the many ways in which tradition and spirituality have become detached from our lives, all the while speculating on where society may be headed as a result.

Working symbols such as the eagle, the animals (horses and bison) as well as the tipi (a conical tent traditionally made of animal skin or birch bark) into the landscape, Mumtaz uses his training as a miniature artist to create paintings that reflect on the native traditions of an equestrian nation. He shows us how the “golden age” of the Plains Indians reached the brink of annihilation at the hands of the white people who were willing to destroy another culture for personal gain.

While his colourful paintings primarily depict the landscape, Mumtaz uses graphite as a medium to create enlargements of the symbols used by the Plains Indians as a way to communicate among themselves. While these symbols mean little to another culture, Mumtaz uses them as a trans-cultural reference - meant to act as a window between two cultures, allowing one to be able to imagine the significance of the elusive language.

Mumtaz finished his BFA from the National College of Arts, after which he received an MFA from the Columbia University. His works went on display at the Canvas gallery on October 13. The show will continue till October 21 between 11 am and 8 pm.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 16^th, 2010.