Auction for a cause: The art of giving

Sanjan Nagar Trust raises funds in order to expand to 100 schools in 10 years.

LAHORE: “If you decide to raise your auction paddle, you can get your share of cheers and applause,” said an animated Edward Rising to one of the two bidders contesting for an Anwar Maqsood painting. A pregnant pause and then up went the paddle. More cheers followed.

That is how Indus Inspiration II auction began. Having all the ingredients of what Rising, a senior auctioneer at Sotheby’s in London, described as a ‘good auction’, with “a lot of interest and a Mexican wave of bidders”.

The Indus Inspiration II: Artists Tribute to Education held on Sunday night follows Indus Inspiration I, which was held in 2005 at Lords Cricket Ground in London.

The auction, which Rising conducted with the excitement of an English Premier League football match, was part of an initiative to raise funds for setting up more schools by the Sanjan Nagar Public Education Trust (SNPET) across the country. The pilot project near Kasur was established 16 years ago and provided education to children whose families could not afford to send them to school.

A few years short of two decades, the school’s students have entered professional programmes in education, medicine, bio-engineering and commerce and have gone to the USA and India on exchange programmes. “But our students remain ‘grounded’,” said a proud Baela Raza Jamil, who is a member of the board of trustees.

“They still help their mothers with chores around the house. The parents have never said that their children have ‘lost their minds’ after getting an education. If anything, their sense of responsibility has increased,” Jamil added.

Ayesha Zaib, who has been at Sanjan Nagar since kindergarten dubbed the founder, Raza Kazim, “an angel with a vision. A revolution occurred in my life and my family’s because of you,” she said in a short speech she gave before the auction started. The event, which featured two other short performances by students of Sanjan Nagar, kicked off with a viewing of 30 art works donated to the trust by artists that included the Indian artist, MF Husain and Pakistani artists including Anwar Maqsood, RM and Sadaf Naeem, Dabir Ahmad and Talat Dabir, Rasheeda Raza, Usman Ghouri, Ijazul Hasan and Unver Shafi.

MF Husain’s paintings had been bid for by foreign collectors and thus were not featured in the auction. However, they were on display for art enthusiasts to view. RM Naeem, who had donated his painting titled Faith, said, “I am just doing my bit by donating my painting. I think every one should do what they can to support such a noble cause.” According to Sheherbano, one of the curators, 20 of the 30 paintings had received ‘silent bids’. At the end of the auction, almost 60 per cent of the paintings that were displayed had been sold, according to Zahra Hameed, one of the organisers. “The ones that were not sold will first be sent to Karachi and then to London for auctions,” Hameed said. Declining to comment on the amount that was raised, Hameed said, “We raised a substantial amount of funds.”

A group of celebrities including Iman Ali, Ali Zafar, Kamiar Rokni, Maliha Naipaul and Ali Azmat also attended the event. Said Baela Jamil, “We are grateful to all those who showed up to support us.” The trust is now looking to expand the project exponentially. “These 16 years were very important for us in terms of learning. That is why we did not expand initially. But now we are confident that we are ready to take the next step,” said Jamil. The goal is to set up 100 schools in 10 clusters across the country over the next decade. “The first two years will be slow because we’ll put the systems in place. We will set up the schools in clusters because that will make it easier to have support centres,” said Jamil. The  SNPET plans to establish schools in South Punjab, in areas like Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Ghotki and Jacobabad. Balochistan and interior Sindh are also included. As for the challenges that the trust sees in the future, Jamil said. “The biggest challenge will perhaps be to take ‘ordinary teachers and make them extraordinary by teaching them to unlearn what they have learnt and to be open to learning from students.” Jamil added, “We know there will be problems. Many are saying that scaling up won’t be easy and we recognise that. We are ready to tackle them as they come.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 30^th, 2010.