Daily Times

LAHORE: Renowned artist and calligraphic maestro Sadequain’s 87th birth anniversary went unnoticed as no ceremony was organised by the government as well as private sector on Friday.

Syed Sadequain Ahmad Naqvi also known as Sadequain was famous for his creative art, new trends in Islamic and poetic calligraphy and murals which was the major reason behind his worldwide recognition. He had painted more than 15,000 artwork pieces, including murals, paintings, calligraphies, drawings and quatrains.

The 87th birth anniversary of the legendry artists was completely ignored by the government, departments concerned, artist communities and art galleries in the city. Not a single the ceremony was organized by any department concerned.

However, Google, an internet based search engine, remembered Sadequain on this occasion with a doodle at its website. The doodle was placed with his picture and calligraphy. The doodle and Saduquain’s remembrance by Google also remained top twitter trends as several people from all walks of lives shared the Google doodle.

Sadequain was born on June 30, 1923 in British India.

His first exhibition, which was held in Quetta in 1954, catapulted him to worldwide fame.

Sadequain had also introduced monumental murals and painted more than 45 murals. Many of Sadequain’s prolific works still adorn walls of public buildings in Pakistan, Middle East, Europe and North America. His murals are displayed on the ceilings of Lahore Museum, Jinnah Hospital Karachi, Frere Hall Karachi, State Bank of Pakistan, Mangla Dam, Punjab University Library, National Bank of Pakistan (GPO branch), Aligarh Muslim University (India), Banaras Hindu University, Geological Institute of India and Powerhouse in Abu Dhabi.

He had been honoured with server national and international awards, including Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, Sitara-e-Imtiaz, Sitara-e-Hindustan by Indian government in 1985, Biennale de Paris by French government in 1961 and Cultural Award by Australian government in 1975.

His true talent was discovered by Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, who brought Sadequain into the limelight. He also spent some time in Paris augmenting his skills.

Sadequain was responsible for the renaissance of Islamic calligraphy in Pakistan.

He was one of the greatest calligraphers who had helped transform the art of calligraphy into serious expressionist paintings. His alphabets exude motion, mood, and paint vivid pictures of the message of the word.

In Pakistan, the art of calligraphy was relegated to a second-class status until Sadequain adapted this medium in the late 1960s. Until then a few painters had experimented with the medium.

Despite his talent, Sadequain rejected material wealth and was known to give his paintings away for free, even refusing to receive commissions and royalty from heads of states around the world.

Published in Daily Times, July 1^st , 2017.