ISLAMABAD: With the growing influence of English language in our culture, Safdar Qureshi decided to make our national and provincial languages the subject of his latest collection.
This assortment of miniature paintings, with native texts creatively infused, will be on display at the Nomad Gallery from October 21, 2010.
“Language is our identity. We, as a nation, have forgotten our mother tongue. The invasion of English language has eroded the fabric of our culture and traditions,” said Safdar Qureshi. “We are losing our identity. My work deals with the revival of Urdu and provincial languages with traditional miniature painting as its base,” explained the artist.
The Larkana born artist received his education from the National College of Arts in miniature painting and now exhibits his work around the country in both group and solo show casings.
His new collection can be easily termed ‘crafty art’, as Qureshi has shrewdly deployed printed digital images in his creations. This is a contemporary form of miniature painting which in itself gives a message of preservation of the linguistic and cultural heritage of Pakistan. These paintings have a minimalistic and meditative quality, comparable to the art produced by some of the best practitioners in the genre.
Nageen Hayat, curator of Nomad Gallery and a huge proponent of meaningful art, highly recommends the work of this artist. “The environment we live in affects how we think and act. We are products of the space and time we inhabit be it our socio-political, historical or economic conditions. These factors mould the way in which we understand our world. This is reflected in Safdar Qureshi’s work and he is a promising artist.”
“We all have our individuality and focus to step away from the original format,” said the artist talking about the genre of his paintings. He added, “Just as our local customs and traditions are vanishing from our society, same is happening with skill set of traditional miniature paintings.” The artist wants to see his work as an example of contemporary styles preserved in traditional values of miniature paintings.
The collection is priced between Rs70,000 and Rs210,000. Each painting is a collector’s item and speaks of the colourful culture existing in Pakistan that badly needs to be preserved.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 21st, 2010.
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