A nostalgic trip back in time

Karachi
It was a nostalgic trip back in time, to the pre-independence days, 1940 to be precise, when the Fine Arts Department of the Punjab University was set up by a young newly-married Polish lady, Anna Molka Ahmed, who had just arrived from England with her husband.
The slide presentation of the works of various artists 1940 onwards, with comprehensive commentary by nationally noted artist Marjorie Husain, at the Canvas Gallery on Thursday evening made the entire function engrossing.
The occasion was the launch of two books: ‘Where have all the flowers gone’ by Zoay, and ‘A journey of resilience and success’ by a team of artists headed by Marjorie. Other members of the team are Barbara Schmidt, Nadeem Alam, Rahat Naveed and Masud.
Over 20 slides were screened, comprising art forms like realism, semi-impressionistic and surrealistic, but an overwhelming ones being landscapes.
They comprised the works of, among others, Nagori, Naela Ahmed, Aijaz Anwar and Anna Molka Ahmed.
The landscapes, apart from being pieces of art, were reminiscent of many other things. The Punjab landscapes were evocative of nostalgia, indeed.
There’s one by the late noted artist, Nagori, a Karachiite, of a lush green field and people in traditional dresses going about their farming with a tonga in the background.
It is this horse-drawn contraption that really makes the whole thing come alive as the tonga was once the most important ingredient of the Punjab landscape. It is reflective of our rich cultural heritage.
This is also reflective of Nagori’s devotion to his craft that he was so taken up by the characteristic of a locale that he did not belong to. He was from Karachi where tongas are virtually non-existent.
Then there’s the painting of a typical street scene in Lahore by Muhammad Arshad, with haphazardly parked rickshaws and congestion.
It was an ideal function for those belonging to Lahore. Sameera Raja, the curator of the Canvas Gallery, lauded Marjorie for her invaluable contribution to art in Pakistan and for depicting the life and culture of the country through her paintbrush.