Arbab Sardar died without fulfillment of wish for a proper art gallery

Painter, sculptor, calligrapher

PESHAWAR: At Arbab Mohammad Sardar’s spacious hujra in his village Landi Arbab, his paintings were scattered in the verandah and in the rooms as if waiting to be properly displayed.

It was the third day of Arbab Sardar’s death and his elder brother Arbab Abdul Sattar, a retired secretary of the Pakistan Railway Board, was worried how to preserve the large number of his paintings and other pieces of art. As mourners drifted into and out of the house to pray for the deceased and offer condolences to Arbab Sattar on the death of his brother, the conversation shifted to the need for setting up arts galleries in Peshawar and other cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Arbab Sattar felt their family house where Arbab Sardar lived until his death could be turned into an art gallery if the government showed interest in the idea. “Or the government could earmark some other place in Peshawar where the painters could display their work,” he added. 

It is rather sad that Arbab Sardar, painter, sculptor and calligrapher, left this world with an unfulfilled wish that the government provide a place to enable him to display his artwork. He died recently at the age of 71 and was buried in the suburban Landi Arbab village.

In fact, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa lost two well-known painters recently, but most people in the province are unaware of their contribution to arts. First it was Nasiruddin Mohmand, a senior painter whose death wasn’t even properly reportedly in the media, and now Arbab Sardar too is gone. It is obvious there aren’t many lovers of arts in this conservative province.

Arbab Sardar liked inviting people to his private art gallery at Landi Arbab. This scribe too paid a visit to his spacious house and wrote about his artwork in an article that hailed him as the ‘Sardar’ of painters in the province. Other too wrote about his art gallery, but such writings didn’t move the ruling elite all these years to fulfill Arbab Sardar’s wish and establish a public art gallery in Peshawar.

One may add though that Peshawar certainly has the Nishtar Hall, but it is used more often for political events and less for cultural activities. Nasiruddin Mohmand had also been demanding establishment of an art gallery in Peshawar where artists could display their work, sell paintings, meet each other and guide budding painters.

Arbab Sardar’s was issueless, but his paintings, sculptures and relief murals were like his children and would keep alive his memory. It would be hard though for his widow to live a lonely life. He had studied at home and abroad, spending time in Italy at an arts academy and getting trained in painting and sculpting. 

Arbab Sardar’s paintings in oil and charcoal mostly depict nature and celebrate the history, culture, architecture and heritage of this ancient land. A number of his paintings adorn Pakistani embassies in Berlin and London, important government buildings such as the National Assembly Islamabad, Governor House and Chief Minister House in Peshawar, and art galleries in the country.

Sculpting was another passion of Arbab Sardar, but he stopped making sculptures about 20 years ago when he was constantly told by many people that it was un-Islamic. His murals also won him admiration and some of the large ones were put up at Jinnah Park Peshawar and the Attock Bridge.

Arbab Sardar was awarded the President’s Pride of Performance award in 1995 for his services in the field of art and culture. The recognition made him happy, but he would have been happier if his people realized the worth of his talent and appreciated his work.