Spanish delegation visits PHA’s art gallery

LAHORE:The Spanish ambassador to Pakistan visited The Barracks, an art gallery in Nasser Bagh established by the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA), to view its latest exhibition on Sunday.

José de Ory, who was in Lahore, was invited to visit the gallery, housed within a historically significant bunker previously used by the Civil Defence Department. The exhibition, ‘Water, Plants, and Other Ecologies,’ was designed by visual artist Hamra Abbas and curated by leading contemporary artist Imran Qureshi. It takes a multidisciplinary approach, exploring the relationship between ecology and nature.

The ambassador was informed that the exhibition features two large garden-themed works. These pieces are montages of images from various locations across Pakistan, documented by Ms Abbas over several years.

‘It is a play on the notion of paradise as a garden in Islam,’ Ms Abbas explained to the diplomat. These works are crafted using a variety of natural stones, including marble, lapis lazuli, jasper, and granite, primarily sourced from Pakistan but also from other countries.

In addition to the garden works, the exhibition includes River Studies, based on glacial river waters recently documented by Ms Abbas in Hunza. Another highlight of the exhibition is Porters, a series of miniature paintings created with lapis lazuli pigment, using a centuries-old technique from Italy.