‘Contemporary art in Pakistan not here to stay’

KARACHI - Contemporary art in Pakistan was not here to stay, an eminent art critic said here.

Art critic Quddus Mirza said: “Contemporary art in Pakistan may stay or may not stay. In my opinion it will not stay.”

He was speaking at a panel discussion titled “Is contemporary art of Pakistan a starburst of curiosity or will it stand the test of time?” at the Mohatta Palace Museum.

Mirza said that contemporary art in Pakistan was not “talk of the town”.

Talking about the exhibition of some 40 artists going on in the Mohatta Palace Museum, he said the art work has been shown abroad and it was nice that it was back in Pakistan.

“I think its a good thing, the News International quoted him as saying.

He said each movement in art history gets some attention and then fizzles out.

Naiza Khan, the curator of the exhibition, said: :Its (Mohatta Palace Museum) a museum space, not a gallery, therefore, there is lot of responsibilities.

She said she got to understand in a wider, more holistic perspective what artists perceived about the exhibition.

I felt the artists had seen the city through a very personal lens, she said, adding that the paintings were not just about suicide bombs.

We need to see the sublime, the beautiful, she was quoted as saying.

Moderator Hameed Haroon, however, opined that Pakistans contemporary art was about to take off. I think we all know what we are looking at is not transient.