Capturing Karachi’s splendid past on canvas

Karachi
Karachi is the hub of Pakistan’s economy and culture. The city has seen a splendid past which can never be forgotten. Art and craft is one of the mediums through which we can see the history of the international city of Pakistan.
Indonesian Consul General Hadi Santoso presented these views while talking to The News at an art exhibition by Hanif Shahzad at Artscene Gallery on Tuesday.
He appreciated the artwork, saying that it depicted the history of Karachi in an attractive and striking way.
“The artist has really impressed me through his beautiful and meaningful paintings. This form of art deserves more appreciation and attention to inculcate the concept of preserving our fabulous history on canvases,” he said.
Talking about the Pak-Indonesia relations, Santoso said both the countries had been enjoying tremendous bilateral relations in all aspects, and the cooperation and collaboration between both the nations had been remarkable from the very beginning.
“Pak-Indonesia relations can be enhanced in a broader aspect by sharing art and literature. Both the countries should focus on exchanging their artists to exhibit the art and literature, which will help pave the way for minimising the cultural distances as well,” he commented.
He particularly mentioned the art exhibition of Anjum Rana in Jakarta, where the artist exhibited the truck art of Pakistan on October 15, 2014.
He hoped that more Pakistani artists would get chances to reach the art galleries of Indonesia, and artists of Indonesia would be invited to Pakistani art galleries to showcase their work.
Hanif Shehzad told The News that he was a civil engineer and the focus of his artwork was buildings and infrastructure of Karachi.
“I have been painting a variety of topics for 30 years, but the city of Karachi has been my core subject for the last 15 years. I was a student of DJ Science College where I used to observe the older parts of the city with a deep fascination.”
The artist lamented that the peaceful and tranquil period of the city had been lost in the dust of hatred and quarrel. He accused both provincial and federal governments of showing negligence towards resolving the core issues of the economic hub of the country.
“The Sindh chief minister is as old as the city is,” he commented. “We need people to run the city who know the ground realities of the metropolis and can resolve its issues with wisdom and enough courage,” Shehzad said.
Describing the nature of his art, he said the elements of love, peace, beauty and sanctity were the focal points in his paintings.
Talking to The News, renowned art critic Chitra Pritum described Shehzad as one of the best painters who had depicted the older memories of Karachi.
“His work reminds me of paintings of old masters who were very cautious in stroking every single brush on a canvas. His paintings have the charisma to hold you and communicate long with you about the golden city of Karachi,” he said.
The critic said that Shehzad’s paintings were very vibrant and spoke about stories of the city, and even a common person could interpret them in multiple ways.
“Young artists of our country can learn a lot from this sort of work. A painter has to learn the art of crafting as well to polish his basic skills and progress towards excellence,” Pritum said.
Rizwan Khaskheli, a novice artist, said it was great for him to look into the history of Karachi through the paintings.
“I have not seen this Karachi that has been portrayed by the artist. He has made me travel through times to look into the lost chapters of the metropolis,” he said.
Khaskheli said the colour schemes were showing the caliber of the artist. “He has just made me speechless by using colour combinations in a vibrant and descent manner,” he said.
A large number of people attended the opening ceremony of the event. The exhibition will run till May 5.