Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Well-known architect and artist Naeem Pasha has said that artists should contribute to the permanent collection of the National Art Gallery (NAG). “If they are not there, then they are nowhere even if they are the top tier artists because the presence of their art in the NAG will not only add value to the national art treasure, it will also make their art pieces a part of history,” he said.

Naeem Pasha, who is also the architect of NAG, was addressing a ceremony after donating three wooden architectural reliefs to the NAG on Thursday. The event was organised by the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA). Naeem Pasha said that the PNCA authorities had neglected the promotion of visual arts for long except the tenures of Kishwar Nahid and Syed Jamal Shah. Talking about the art pieces donated to the National Art Gallery, Naeem Pasha said it was a homage to Zahoorul Akhlaq, the great artist who had influenced many of the graduates from the National College of the Arts (PNCA). “In these three pieces, Zahoor ul Akhlaq’s technique and form are rediscovered,” he said.

Syed Jamal Shah, the PNCA director general, said that the PNCA was suffering from the shortage of funds to promote the actual mandate of the NAG. “The PNCA budget is extremely insufficient for holding national level programmes,” he said. He said a Senate standing committee had asked the federal government to increase the PNCA budget to Rs 100 million. “Let’s see it that recommendation is implemented. Then the PNCA will be able to adequately run its programmes countrywide,” he said. He said at the moment the PNCA was unable to collect art pieces for the permanent collection of the National Art Gallery. “Artists should spare their work for the NAG collection.

Published in Daily Times, September 15^th 2017.