Alamgir
Alamgir
is indisputably the pioneer of Pakistan's popular
music. He marked his entry on television with
his famous Spanish tune Albela Rahi. Hailing
from Dhaka, he landed in Karachi at a time when
the city's entertainment centres were full of
life and colour. |
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He began by singing at Hill Park for the sake of a
few bucks. The story took a major turn when Sohail
Rana discovered his genius and offered to work with
him. Alamgir's talent significantly helped the composer
creat the all time hit, Jiway Jiway, Pakistan. He
started by singing westren tunes. However, Alamgir
established his genius and versatility by composing
and vocalising diversified folk tunes and semiclassical
styles. He first composed a number for the early 70s
TV programme, Dam Dam Dee Dee. His work such as, Ye
Sham Aur Tera Naam, Badal Bhi Aur Pani Bhi, Koi Bhi
Rang Ho Tera, Iss Ko Naam Junoon Kaa Dedo, Paas Aakar
Koi, Khayal Rakhna, Ja Ja Jani, Tum Meri Ankhain Ho,
Sham Say Pehlay and countless other numbers are still
hummed by the lowers of popular music.
Aslam Azhar
| I
don't Know anything about televisition, Aslam
Azhar told the Japanese who interviwed him. "neither
does any other Pakistani" came the respones.
And so the freelance journalist, theatre and radio
worker in Karachi began his memorable career in
Pakistan Televisition, when it was set up with
Japanese help in 1964. |
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As
Programmes Director in Lahore, and the first Pakistani
in the set up, he is remembered for his encougragement
of new ideas and talent, integrity and idealism. He
was moved to Pindi in early 1967 to state the televisiyion
station there as its General Manager, and set up the
Karachi station within the year, again as JM. Appointed
Manager Director of the Corporation in 1972, he also
started the Quetta and Pesharwar stations. Having
headed and nursed PTV not only through its teething
period but also probably its most creative period,
he had differences with an increasingly dictatorial
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, and was neraly sacked for speaking
against ZAB's information policies at a cabinet meeting.
shortly afterwardes, he offered to resign and was
placed as head of a proposed Academy for film, televisition
and theater, being set up under the Ministry of Culture.
The venture was cut short by Gen. Ziaul Haq, who sacked
Azhar and effectively, the academy, at one go, in
1977. Appointed Chairman PTV and PBC by Benazir Bhutto
after she was elected prime minister in 1988, Azhar
resigned a year and a half later, again after differences
with the information policy. But the history of Pakistan
Television will never be recounted without a mention
of the man who was virtually its founding father.
Hamid Nizami
Hamid Nizami and his Nawai Waqt are two outstanding
names from the Pakistan Movement. Nawai waqt was first
taken out on March 29, 1940 as fortnightly, a week
after the passage of Pakistan Resolution in Lahore.
It was edited by Nizami, who was then a student at
Islamia College Lahore and his friend Shabbar hasan,
a medical student. The paper became a weekly after
two years in 1944, it became a daily and was offered
financial help by the Muslim League. Nizami declined,
but assured the League of his full support. He remained
committed to League ideas and was extremly critical
of those who supported the imposition of the first
martial law in country by Ayub Khan. After the creation
of Pakistan, the readership of Nawai Waqtgrew, as
it came to be regarded as a paper which gave voice
to right-wing views. It is one of the three largest
newspaper concerns in Pakistan.
Kamal Ahmad Rizvi
Rizvi, known for his wicked wit and biting humour
that spares none, has penned dozens of translations
and adaptations of stage and television plays as well
as original writing. In the 1950s besides doing translations
and original work for Urdu newspapers like the now
defunct Ehsas and Imroze, he also wrote extensively
for Sibte Hassan's Lail-o-Nehar, the famous socio-political
and literary weekly. In the early days, penniless
and armed with little but his intellect and pen, he
started out doing work for children, editing children's
magazines like the monthly Tehzeeb and Phulwari, as
well as Ferozensons taleem-o-Tarbiat (still published).
One of the theatre pioneers of Pakistan, an exacting
actor-director and writer, Rizvi has also acted in
and directed several of his own productions.
Khawaja Mueenuddin
The little theatre that took place in the areas that
became Pakistan was by touring companies that travelled
all over from their bases in bombay and calcutta.
Khawaja mueenuddin realising that there was a void
started to write plays and also stage them for the
large section of the population in karachi. His plays
were mostly satires revolving round the theme of migration
of population and the wide gap that existed between
reality and the self professed slogans of the leaders
of the community. His Taleeme Balighan, Mirza Ghalib
Bunder Road Per and Lal Qile se Laloo Kheet tak were
staged in public auditorium and were applauded by
the cross section of the population besause the satire
was biting but never black enough to border on the
tragic. He set up the first repertory company and
most of the like Qazi Wajid, Subhani Ba Younis and
Muhammed Yousaf who made a contribution in redio,
stage and television started their career from his
repertory. He showed others that it was possible to
do theatre in an environment that was not congenial
for such activity. It was later that theatre picked
up in Lahore and the inspiration came from none other
than Khawaja Mueenuddin
Khurshid
Anwar
Khurshid
Anwer started his career as a music composer
from the All India Radio but was soon absorbed
by an ever growing film industry of Bombay.
He composed music from the forties onwards in
many films for such popular singres as K.L Sehgal. |
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After
independence he came into his own and composed some
of the most outstanding tunes for a number of filme,
some of which were also produced by him. His compositions
for Nur Jehan in particular, both for Urdu and Punjabi
films, have now become part of the classical repertoire
of film music. His compositions were also based on
the foundations of our classical music and though
deceptively simple were extremely difficult to sing.
He was also influenced by the folk music of Haryana
were the spent the formative tears of his life. He
tried to produce films which were relevant to the
situation here, thus giving the much needed depth
to the films. He devoted a great deal of his creative
energy in getting classical music sung by the most
prominent exponents with the view to classifying them
according to thaats, raags and gharaanas. Its final
shape known as Ahange khusravi is his lasting tribute
to the very great tradition of classical music of
the sub continent
Masood Pervez
Masood Pervez arrived in the subcontinent's cinema
as an actor at a wrong time, when Bombay's film industry
had fallen in the grip of communal frenzy of post-war
tears. Back in Lahore, his first attempt at film-making
ended in disaster. The setback was overwhelming. That
further softended his speech and made him more self-effacing
than before. But he remained a progressive at heart,
committed to the principle of collective group work.
An admirable collection of talent materialised in
the mid-fifties as film director Masood Pervez the
role of a balancing actor between an innocent producer
(Sultan Jilani) and a highly assertive cine-aesthete-composer
(Khurshed Anwar). The result was a production that
became a model of entertainment, one which brought
the discriminating moviegoers and the masses together
in its appreciation. It also presented the least controversial
blending of the demands of art and commerce in the
uncertain environment of Pakistan's cinema. For many
years his name alternative route to entertainment
open. At a time when Pakistan's cinema was under assault
from plagiarists and purveyors of vulgarity he kept
the high on for decency and the values of film technique.
He faced out as quietly as he had borne himself in
the noisy studios and sustained himself by exercises
in poetry -- purely for self-satisfaction -- including
a rhymed traslation of the Quranic verses in Punjabi
Mazar
Ali Khan
Mazar Ali Khan was among the pioneers of Pakistani
journalism. He joined The Pakistan Times as a young
man, when it strated publication in june 1947. In
1951, he became its editor. During his period, Times
described The Pakistan Times as the best edited newspaper
in Asia. Khan resigned when Progrssive Papers Ltd
was seized by the military regime of Ayub Khan in
1959. Some time later, he sreved briefly as the editor
of Down. In 1957 he launched his own weekly Viewpoint
from Lahore, which in his own words owed "allegiance
to no political party or to group, but to the basic
concept of a democratic polity." He kept his
promise and throughout its 17 years, viewpoint remained
a qua;ity opinion journal. Never one to overstate
a point or be a drawn into debate over personalities,
Khan's work set high standareds of journalism in Pakistan.
For those who believe in the value of issue-based
journalism and who want to take pride in their profession,
he continues to serve as a role model. His pen always
spoke powerfully to raise such issues, and to the
end he unheld the ideals he believed in, standing
tall in the histiry of Pakistan's journalism
Mehdi
Hassan
Mehdi
Hassan is undoubtedly one of the most renowned
ghazal singers in the world today. An artiste,
who has set such towering standards in the light
classical music, his career is used as a benchmark
along which many young artistes model their
own. |
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Mehdi Hassan never had a formal education. His education
was solely in the field of classical music that he
had been studying since the age of eight. Born in
a village called ‘Luna’ in Rajasthan (India),
Mehdi Hassan trained under his father Ustad Azeem
Khan and uncle Ustad Ismail Khan. He hails from a
family that produced fifteen generations of musicians
making him the ‘solva pusht’ (sixteenth
generation) of artists, with an ancestry that boasts
of ‘Darbari Ustads’ who were seasoned
performers in the courts of several Maharajahs of
Indore, Patna, Chhatarpur and Mysore.
Mehdi Hassan produced his first public performance
at the age of eight at the behest of the Maharaja
of Baroda. Since then he has had nearly 25,000 records
to his credit and has rendered nearly all forms of
vocalism including classical, thumri, film music and
of course the ghazal that he is most widely reputed
for.
As the classical forms became less popular, ghazal
gaiki gained in prestige in a culture that was more
hung on the importance of words than the abstraction
of the sur. Singers trained in the classical tradition
found it difficult to survive in the new environment.
A few highly trained singers who broke away from this
tradition of high classical, instead, chose ghazal
as their main forte of musical expression and the
most successful among them was Mehdi Hasan. Ghazal
was sought as a substitute for the from like kheyal
and thumri. One of the singers who brought the richness
and virtousity of thumri into the ghazal gaiki, thus
elevating its musical worth and retaining the sweetness
and romance that goes with this kind of singing in
Mehdi Hasan. As he is from Rajisthan he also brought
the colour of that area to enrich his style of singing.
This trend was started by Barkat Ali Khan and has
been strenghtened by Iqbal Bano. Freeda Khanum and
Mehdi Hasan has taken the ghazal to a totally new
level.
Mir
Khaliur Rahman
Mir
Khaliur Rahman took out the Jang Dehli in 1941
during the Second World War. From this humble
beginning was to evolve the largest newspaper
empire in Pakistan. What distinguished Mir Khaliure
Rahman from other newspaper owners was his emphasis
on reporting. |
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Something he had learnt in his early career in Dehli
as a reporter, news editor, editor and distributer
all rolled into one. Migrating to Pakistan at the
time of partition, Mir Khaliur Rahman re-estadlished
Jang in Karachi, started it in a rented building,
with a mearge Rs 5,000. Not only did he make Jang
the largest-selling Urdu paper in the country, he
expanded his enterprise by launching the English weekly
eveninger Daily News, Urdu weekly Akhbare Jehan and
English weekly Mag. The News, the English morning
newspaper launched by the Jang Group, was one year
old at the time of Mir Khaliur Rahman's death in 1992.
He was never shy of experimenting, and the first to
introduce new technology. Qualities which made him
a trendsetter in Pakistan journalism.
Naheed
Siddiqui
She
may be Pakistan's only Pride of Performance
holder (1994) who is banned from showing her
art on Pakistan Television. No wonder Naheed
Siddiqui depicts herself as an isolated figure
in her latest choreographed piece titled 'My
Motherland?', which premiered in England this
summer. |
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The final part of the dance shows her straining to
hear music, opening doors and finding them slammed
shut in her face, becomeing entengled in a voluminous
black shroud that eventully trails like an ominous
shadow behind her as she walks away when the piece
ends. She initially left the country in 1979 after
being unable to practice her art here -- her Kathak
programme on Television, Payal, was banned by the
Zia regime after only five out of thirteen episodes
had been aired. In the UK, she has been able to build
up a formidable reputation for herself as a danser,
and has been showered with awards like the prestigious
Time Out (1990) and the Dance Umbrella (1991). Yet
she has stubbornly persisted in tyring to build up
interest and awareness about dance here, risking private
performances even in the years when dance was strictly
banned. She started her own company in 1990, and frequently
gives performances in other countries. Her real interest,
however, lies in Oakistan, and teaching dance at the
French Cultural Centre in Lahore. Siddiqui wants to
creat an awareness of "our real culture and heritage"
with its harmony and peace, as opposed to the valgarity
and gun violence that have become popular culture.
Unassuming and passionately committed, her increasing
expertise and international fame has only made her
more determined to hold her ground in the motherland
where her own standing as an artist and as a woman
are questionable
Nazia
Hassan & Zoheb Hassan
In
1981, pakistan's clandestine video rental network
was hit by Feroz Khan's Qurbani, made famous
by a modernistis blend of Euro-Westren and South
Asian style Aap Jesaa Koi. While this number
set new records of popularity, just a few here
knew that the voice behind belonged to Nazia
Hasan, a fellow Pakistani. The songs was composed
by Biddu. |
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As
Biddu continued to make music for them, their album
'Disco Dewanay' hit Pakistani music market with a
bang. Their songs were popular not only in Pakistan
but also in other parts of the worlds. Entirely based
on electronic orchestration and effects, the composer
employed Western chord patterns and beat to blend
with local melody. Variation from lowest to highest
vocal tones, interminable moderate beat, synthesized
chords, counters and effects were essential parts
of their numbers. And this was the fasion which the
composer applied in most popular songs such as, Aik
Do, Aay Dil Meray Chalray, Disco Diwanay, Laikin Mera
Dil, Ye Dil Tere Liyay Hai and others. Soon Zohab
began to compose. With Zara Chehra, he proved himself
to be a complete musician, though, the composition
techniques in Khoobsoorat Ho Andaar Say, Pesa Bara
Yaa Piyar and Zara Chahra were not diffrerent from
the style set by Biddu. The brother and sister duo
rarely sang for other composers. In Pakistan, Nazia
sang Khabi Khabi in Javed Allahditta's and Komal komal
in Arshad Mehmud's compositions, with lyrics by Anwer
Maqsood and great Indian musician Laxmikant Piyaraylal
(LP) selected them for a duet.
Sheema
Kermani
For
Sheema Kermani, dance is a passion as well as
a social cause. She teaches dancing and also
acts for the stage and television. She combines
this with activism which includes mobile theatre
in poor localities of the city. Pakistan’s
leading dancer with a social cause, Sheema Kermani
talks to Asif Farrukhi at her home in Karachi
as the cool evening sea-breeze brings relief
after a humid day, and the darkening city prepares
itself for yet another strike the next day.
|
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We were living in small towns, there was nobody who
could teach us and I never saw a dance performance.
When we shifted to Karachi, I was about 13 or 14 and
really plump. My mother took me to Ghanshyam’s.
That’s where I had my first exposure to dance.
I started dancing and I enjoyed it but I never took
it seriously. During my childhood my parents did a
lot to encourage art, music and creativity. We used
to do small plays for birthdays with a present for
the best play." She recalls that the house was
filled with the music of Beethoven and Bach. "From
the age of seven, I learnt the piano and for 10 years
I studied Western classical music, passing the exams
from the Royal Academy of Music and when I became
more conscious, I thought that I should learn Eastern
classical music." She trained with Ghanshyam’s
Dance Troupe in Karachi and later graduated from Croydon
College of Art in London.
Nur
Jehan
| When
the silent films were upgraded into talkies singing
became an essential ingrediet of the emerging
medium in the subcontinental cinema. The voice
that was to give it a definite form was Nur Jehan
in the late thirties. In the next few years leading
up to independence sge had firmly established
singing in the films as a popular and authentic
form. |
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She
also played the leading roles in films as there was
no focility of playback recording but her stature
as a singer always overshadowed her role as an actress
and it was not surprising that she left one for the
other in her later age. She migrated to Pakistan from
Bombay when at the height of her career and helped
in building the film industry from a scratch in her
new country. A great number of her songs have become
classics of film music and she had maintained her
top ranking for more than fifty years -- no mean feat.
the full richness of her voice and her Punjabi ang
has remained as a distinct contribution even after
film music proliferated in the subcontinent. Some
of her non-film geets and nazms too have been very
highly regarded bu music connoisseur.
Nusrat
Fateh Ali Khan
Nusrat
Fateh Ali Khan came from a family of great qawwals.
His father and uncle were respected for their
knowledge of the raags and a wide range of Kalaam
in Urdu, Punjabi and Persian and Arabic. |
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Nusrat Fateh, in the initial phase, sang the traditional
qawwali with great virtuosity in laikari and sargam
and later switched to experimentation with some of
the leading musicians and composers of the world and
when he sang for Peter Gabriel in The Last Temptation
Of Christ he became an enternational celebrity. He
bacame one of the leading members of the movement
that espoused World music. Mostly basing his melody
on traditional sources he brought in a huge input
of instrumental music which varied from heavy metal
to computer-generated sounds. World Msic became a
craze and has been taken as the begining of globalisation
of music and Nusrat was a very active member of it.
Unfortunately his premature death put an end to the
endeavour of arriving at a definite form. He was perhaps
the best known Pakistani in the world and was rewarded
with praises and awards from all the four corners
of the world.
The
Peerzadas
No
other family has done so much for the promotion
of art and theatre in Pakistan, strating with
Rafi Peer (born March 21, 1898) one of the pioneer
of modren drama in the subcontinent. He abandoned
his law studies in England and went to the Germany
to study law language and philosophy. There
he met theatre director Mex Reinhardt, who encouraged
him to study theatre. Rafi Peer taught acting
and direction at the Indian A cademy of Dramatic
Art in the 1930s and in 1945 made film Neecha
Nagar in which he was the main actor. |
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After partition he settled in Lahore and set up Drama
Markaz theatre group and wrote plays. After his death
in 1974 his five sons and two daughters have continued
their father's mission to promate art and culture.
The Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop (RPTW) was set up to
promote performing arts, puppets and folk theatre
forms. Starting with puppet shoes, children art festivals
and drama programmes RPTW has produced many international
art festivals in Pakistan. RPTW in run by the twins
Faizaan and Sadaan, along with Usman, Imran and Salman
while sister Tasneem looks after public relation.
RPTW has to its credit four international puppet festivals,
a national dance festivals and three international
dance and drama festivals.
Razia
Bhatti
Her untimely and sudden death in 1996 ended an almost
30-years long journalistic career and left bereft
all those whome she had inspired and trained and groomed
on the job and by example. Razia Ronderay, the dimunitive
gold medallist in English literature and language
from Karachi University joined The Illustrated Weekly
of Pakistan in 1967. She was part of the team that
converted it into a monthly in 1970 and re-named Herald.
Razia's stint as editor, which begab in 1975, coincided
with the most repressive period in Pakistan's history.
Her independent stance was predictably unpopular with
the military authorities; Gen. Zia once got so would
not tolerate such journalism. Undeterred by pressure,
from either the authorities or the publishers, Razia
resigned rather than compromising her editorial independence.
Most of the editirial team walked out with her --
and started a bold new venture. Newsline, born in
1989, was the first magazine in Pakistan's history
run by a journalists' cooperative with complete editorial
freedom. The motto: "to seek the truth, to spotlight
injusyice and to fight for redressal." Its very
first year, it won the Asia-Pacific Award for Editorial
Excellence. In 1994, Razia was awarded the Courage
in Jourlalist award by the Washington-based International
Women's Media Foundation. Modest and unassuming, she
considered the media attention as too much fuss. Which
is what she would have said of all the tributes pouring
in after her passing away and of this note.
Pathana Khan
Although
Pathana Khan was born, brought up and lived
in Pakistan, it will not be fair to call him
a Pakistani singer. He belongs to everyone who
loves Sufi poetry.
There are many self-styled darvesh gayaks (saintly
singers) but Pathana Khan was a true exemplar
of the type. All his life he lived in the small
village Kot Addu, near Multan. |
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He was admitted to school in 1932 and passed six classes.
He got married at a time when Hindus still lived in
the region, i.e., before 1947. He fathered eleven
children — seven sons and four daughters.
Pathana Khan’s family had no tradition of singing
as he belonged to potters’ caste. He trained
for five or six years, under Ustad Nazar Hussain,
the famous vocalist of the Patiala gharana. Then he
spent some years in Panjab University to learn the
Punjabi language from Nazaf Shah.
All his life, he sung only the classic poetry of the
sufis like Khwaja Ghulam Farid, Shah Hussain, Bulle
Shah and Sultan Bahu. Once he gave the reason for
this:" This poetry has the secret of love, it
is natural poetry that descended from the unknown;
it has simplicity, reality, and love; it is the very
embodiment of humanity. I am in love with sufi poetry;
it has a soothing effect; it gives peace of mind."
Roshan
Ara Begum (classical singer)
Roshan
Ara Begum was one of the most outstanding disciple
of the legendary Abdul Karim Khan of the Kirana
Gharana. After singing a few ghazals and geets
for the films she devoted her entire life to
classical music even when it was not that popular
in Pakistan. She too shifted to Pakistan at
the height of her career knowing that the conditions
were not that conducive for her. |
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Considered to be one of the most accomplished singer
of the kheyal at that time, impeccable in her control
of the taal and the delineation of the raag. Her taan
too was very fast and unerring and in the old tradition
relished to perform on stage in competition with the
leading singers of her time. Her voice was extremely
crafted and the correct intonation of the sur in relation
to the raag was the result of great perseverance that
she had to endure during her long training. Even when
she lived in the far way Lalamusa with very limited
opportunities to display her immense talent she was
a soure of great inspiration as she refused to compromise
on quality in return for acceptance and popularity.
She was a supreme craftsman and was admired by the
aficionados of classical music who called her (Mulkai
Mauseeqi) the Quin of Music.
Roohi
Bano (TV star)
Television had not found a great actrees till Roohi
Bano appeared on the mini screen. Her performances
in Darwaza, Zard Gulab and certain other long plays
were absolutely outstanding and set her apart from
the other performers. Roohi Bano was able to capture
the average woman of our society -- repressed with
energy that does not find an commensurate outlet,
she has to live the vital part of her life under cover.
The characters that she excrlled in were of women,
very talented and exceptional but inhibited not by
external circumstances but by the internalisation
of values which have been in operation through centuries.
The lost look, the strutting syllables and the unsure
step epitomised the great crises that went on, betraying
the desire to free from these shackles and flower
in a world of her own. This has often been the woman's
world sheltered from outstand either within the four
walls or within oneself. She could never express herself
in films because there the stereotypes cannot capture
the sensitivity and subtlety that she was so capable
of representing.
Sadequain
The
most distinct aspect of Sadequain is that he
brought art close to the people of our society.
There are various reasons for this: one of them
is that Sadequain did not belong to the elite
from the art instotutions. He identified himself
with the public and reached to them through
his work. |
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He
produced innumerable works in his creative life including
poetry, paintings and murals at public spaces. The
imagery in the work of Sadequain is related to the
'work' in two ways. In one kind of work the images
are inspired by the narrative, such as the poetry
of Ghalib and Iqbal or create their own narrative,
similar to fiction. The other aspect of his work is
the use of script, either to formulate the visuals
or as an independent art genre. Long before the trend
of calligraphy, Sadequain recognised the possibilities
of 'Nastaleeq' and 'Naskh' weitings and employed their
linear character to construct the recognisable and
readable images. The fascination with the script led
him to make painting of Quranic verses. It will require
some years to guage the genius of an artist who through
his work represented our verbal side and our culture.
Probably his art can be described as the true voise
of his society and this may be the reason that he
was the most popular, respected and appreciated artist
of his times.
Shakir Ali
Born
in 1922, Pakistan
Shakir Ali has spent 12 years, 7 years in Bombay
and 5 in London to learn classic and modern
art. He came back to Pakistan in 1952.
Art
for Shakir is a meant of expressing his own
lonely personality. It is devoid of sensuousness
and sentimentality, and possesses the distilled
quality of brooding in in solitude on subjects
from life, which only provide point of departure
into the realm of line, tone values and color.
His approach to his craft is essentially of
virtuoso. |
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He
treats line solely as a matter of Measure, short or
long, of angles, obtuse or acute. He uses tone values
or chiaroscuro as Weight and color as Quality. He
uses these three formal elements in the construction
of new order and creates image, which we call the
subject.
In
the work of such artist, the appearance of recognizable
object is cause for confusion among the viewers. Every
object from organic world has whole range of associate
properties, which exist for viewers, but may or may
not be present in the mind of artist, when he is painting
it. His aim appears to be to construct symphony in
line, tone values and color, and open now perspective
in the dimension of meaning.
Shakir,
in 1956, is held in high esteem, as an artist. His
background, together with long time at National College
of Arts, first as Head of Art Department and later
as Principal, deservedly earn him a position of reverence.
He has reached the stage, where he runs the risk of
being praised, without being really understood or
appreciated
Gulgee
Born
in Pakistan
Qualified
engineer in USA and self-taught abstract painter
Before 1959, he has painted the entire Afghan
Royal Family.His
paintings are were bright and full of color,
but the paint is put on with greater sensitivity
and paintings vibrate with intense feeling. |
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Areas
sing with luminous thin color, thick blobs of paint
pulsate with fiber-glass tears, the brush swirls strong
and free. The total effect is very gray, yet considered
and well thought out. They work enormously well, because
it is all orchestrated with great care and concentration.Paintings
are often commissioned, or go abroad and therefore
only reach relatively small audience.He
has had exhibitions in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Abdul
Rahman Chughtai
Born
in 1899, Pakistan; he comes from a family which
for generations has produced architects, engineers,
painters and decorators.His individual style
was formed in the years before 1947, so the
main body of his work was produced before Pakistan
was born: Persian and Mongol Traditional Style.
|
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Chughtai admitted himself to Lahore's Mayo
School of Art, which then emphasized crafts more than
art. He did not stay there very long and started learning
on his own, concentrating on the traditional methods
and techniques of Mongol artists. Then, he moved on
to Calcutta and worked there foe several years, painting
in Bengal School Style.
By 1923, when he was only 24, he started developing
his style of drawing luscious, languid, narcissus-eyes
and stylized figures with erotic overtones and heavy
with fictional contents.
He also introduced him to some of Western art techniques,
chiefly as practiced by Victorian artists, and to
the cave painting of Ajanta, which were then in process
of being re-discovered by contemporary painters.
It was in formative phase of his career that Chughtai
imbibed certain stylization and mannerism, including
extensive use of architectural motifs and pictorial
nuances, which mark his illustrational paintings of
this period.
In 1927, Chughtai published Muraqqa, his first major
work, which comprised a series of illustrations he
made for new edition of the thought-heavy and highly
imaginative verses of Ghalib, 19th century "
poet's poet" of Urdu and Persian. Early in the
thirties Chughtai visited Europe, researching on painting;
also did a few years later.
Salima Hashmi,
Professor Salima Hashmi, recipient of the President's
Award for Pride of Performance, is a painter, art
educationist, writer and curator. She taught for thirty
years at NCA, Pakistan's premier art institution,
recently retiring as its Principal. She has exhibited
her own work, traveled and lectured extensively all
over the world, and curated international art shows
in Europe, the U.S., Australia, Japan and India. Daughter
of the great Urdu poet Faiz, Salima Hashmi was also,
along with her husband Shoaib Hashmi, one of the pioneers
in the '60s and '70s, of television, theatre and puppet
theatre in Lahore.
Hashmi
is currently Dean of the School of Visual Arts at
the newly-established Beaconhouse National University,
and has recently published a book on Pakistani Women
artists entitled Unveiling the Visible: Lives and
Works of Women Artists of Pakistan
Sultan
Rahi
Sultan
Rahi is a Record Holder Great Punjabi Film Hero.
He belongs to an Urdu-speaking family from Utter
Pardesh, India and was settled in Rawalpindi
after partition.
His first appearance was as an "extra actor"
in Urdu film "Baghi" (1956). |
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He struggled many years as supporting actor in various
Urdu and Punjabi movies. He got some significant roles
in 1967 in films like "Chacha Jee" and "Hatim
Tai".
Sultan Rahi got breakthrough in film "Babul"
(1971) and then in film "Bashira" (1972).
He became the first choice of any Punjabi film producer
after the great success of film "Wehshi Jatt"
in 1975, it was an action film with to much violence
and a new era of Punjabi films. He was in the title
role as "Moula Jatt" in 1979, which was
the best ever box-office hit film in Pakistan. He
had unique record as film hero and played a lot of
title roles in record films. His three films released
on the same day created an amazing record, when "Sher
Khan" and "Sala Sahib" became double
diamond jubilee films (200 weeks) and "Chann
Waryaam" was single diamond jubilee in Lahore´s
cinema´s in 1981. Sultan Rahi dominated Punjabi
films as hero in almost a quarter century and was
killed by an unknown gunman in January 1996, which
ended a magnificent film career.
Other big films on his credit are Sakhi Badshah, Kale
Chour, Dulari, Mela, Akhri Jang, Mafroor, Toofan,
Jagga Gujjar, Wehshi Gujjar, Ann Daata, Abdullah The
Great, Baadal, Sholey, Moula Bakhsh and many more...
Ustad
Salamat Khan
After
the departure of Barre Ghulam Ali Khan there
was a yawning void in vocal music. But it was
the dous of Nazakat Ali Khan-Salamat Ali Khan
who moved in to compensate to some extent for
the great loss. From the Sham Chaurassi Gharana
not known for Kheyal singing, the duo of Salamat
Ali-Nazakat Ali worked haed to incroporate the
dhurpad ang into the Kheyal and make it their
very own. |
 |
It was actually the virtuosity of Salamat Ali Khan
that won many an accolade. He is a past master at
laikari, with a genius for dividing and sub-dividivg
the rhythmic cycle to express the intricacies of the
tonal pattern. His lightening quick taans are admired
by those who understood the technicalities of classical
music. Midway through his career he started to sing
alone and the twin assets of taan and laikari served
him well. He also sang the thumri and the kaafi in
the semi classical in those sections devoted to the
importance of poetry in singing.
Waheed
Murad
Hero,
Villain, Producer, Writer and Singer
First film: Aulaad (Urdu - 1962)
Last film: Hero (Urdu - 1985)
Waheed Murad is The All Time Greatest Pakistani
Film Hero. He was born in a wealthy family at
Sialkot. His father was a film distributor in
Karachi.His first two films were as producer "Insaan
badalta hai" (1961) and "Jab se dekha
hai tumhein" (1963).
Waheed Murad´s first two films as actor
"Aulaad" (1962) and "Daaman"
(1963) were as "side hero". |
 |
He became famous hero in film "Heera aur Pathar"
in 1964 and got breakthrough in Pakistan´s first
ever Platinum Jubilee Film "Armaan" in 1966.
He was also producer and writer of this film.
Here is a brief film career record of Waheed Murad:
Diamond Jubilee Film: Shabana (1976)
Platinum Jubilee Films: Armaan (1966), Anjuman (1970),
Ishq Mera Naa (1974), Aawaz (1979)
Golden Jubilee Films: Aulaad (1962), Daaman (1963),
Kaneez (1965), Insaniyat and Dever Bhabhi (1967),
Dil mera dharkan teri (1968), Andleeb (1969), Neend
hamari khwab tumhare and Mastana Mahi (1971), Daoulat
aur Duniya and Baharo Phool Barsao (1972), Tum salamat
raho, Dushman and Shama (1974), Jab jab Phool khile
and Phool mere Gulshan ka (1975), Waqt and Surayya
Bhoopali (1976) and other musical films are Doraha
(1967), Tumhi ho mehboob mere (1969), Salgirah, Khalish
and Khwab aur Zindgi (1972). His pair with Zeba and
Rani was a great success
Waheed Murad was villain in film "Sheeshe ka
Ghar".
His last film was "Hero", which was released
after his death in 1985.
He was well-dressed, handsome and attractive personality.
He had extremely popular hair style. His nickname
was "Chocolate Romantic Hero".
Waheed Murad died by heart attack in Karachi in 1983
Zia
Mohyeddin
International
name, international fame
'A man of many parts' is how Zia Mohyeddin might
describe himself. A fastidious aesthete with
a particular interest in literature and classical
music, his passion for theatre was visible in
his student days as a member of the Government
College Dramatic Club (GCDC) Lahore. |
 |
After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts
(1953-56) he returned to do some memorable productions,
notably 'Julius Caesar' and 'Long Daya Journey into
Night' in 1957, as well as 'Khwaja Moinuddin' and
other productions.
In 1960 he took on the role of Dr. Aziz in 'Passage
to India', staged in the West End and Broadway continously
for about three years, and did the film in 1963-64.
He also did several other films, televisioin roles
and plays, the most prominent Pakistani actor on the
scene, but returned to Pakistan in the early 1970s
on Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's insistence that he set up
the PIA Arts and Dance Academy. This wasa also the
period of the stylish Zia Mohyeddin show which ran
for two seasons, and set the pattern for talk shows
on PTV.
mohyeddin retuned to England in 1975, disenchanted
with the Bhutto regime, and began working in a more
directoral capacity, occasionally taking on film roles.
He again returned to Pakistan in 1995, where his Urdu
poetry and prose recitations have become legend, and
which take him all over the country, and indeed the
world.
HAMEED
HAROON
The
Chief Executive Officer and publisher of Pakistan's
leading English daily 'Dawn', and magazines 'Herald',
'Spider' and 'Aurora', Hameed Haroon is also the President
of the All Pakistan Newspaper Society. He has presented
a prime time serial, 'Quarrels', on Channel 4 in London
(1994) and played Judge Brack in his own production
of PTV's "Hedda Gabler" (1975). He has been
associated with theatre in London in Eugene Ionesco's
"Bald Primadonna" (1972), as director in
Ibsen's "Hedda Gabler" in Karachi (1975)
and, again, as director of the much acclaimed "Love
Letters" in Karachi (1999). Hameed Haroon has
been on the board of some of the country's leading
art schools - the National College of Arts in Lahore,
the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture in
Karachi and Studio Gandhara in Islamabad. He has also
been associated with the Sindh Environment Protection
Board, the National Conservation Strategy, and has
served as the Chairman of the KMC Zoo and the Karachi
Safari Park. He is currently a member of the Advisory
Committee on Heritage, Government of Sindh, and was
the recipient of an Institute of Architects of Pakistan
(IAP) award for his contribution to architecture (1982).
He has been passionately involved with the documentation
and promotion of sufi shrine music at the Bhit Shah
shrine of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai and is the recipient
of the Latif Award (1994), the highest cultural award
in Sindh province. He is also a member of the governing
bodies of the National Fund for Cultural Heritage
(NFCH) and the National Fund for Moenjodaro. Haroon
has also served as the Chairman for the National Task
Force on Culture in the Federal Ministry for Culture
(1999). He has written articles focusing on the music,
culture and archeology of Sindh and Balochistan and
owns an extensive collection of Pakistani art. He
has grown up watching and following Pakistani cinema
and has a deep and abiding interest in international
cinema. He is also currently involved in documenting
and issuing the collected works of the famed Pakistani
singer Noorjehan.
Mohammad
Ali
|
Mohammad
Ali, popularly known as Ali bhai, started his
career from Radio Pakistan Karachi, in the early
1960's. |
 |
Loyalty,
empathy, honesty and humility are his hall-marks.
Additionally, he is well-known for his social services.In
1968, he married the renowned actress of those times,
Zeba. Known in the film circle for his command as
a passionate actor.This versatile actor has worked
with almost all successful directors of the Pakistan
film industry.
Ali bhai accepted the role of a villain in famous
director-writer-poet, Fazal Ahmed Karim Fazli's film
‘Chiragh jalta raha', which happened to be the
first film not only for Ali bhai (as a villain) but
also for director Fazli, Zeba, Deeba and Kamal Irani.
In fact, late director, Rafiq Rizvi bapu's film ‘Shararat'
and film ‘Khamosh raho' (1964) were the first
two films in which Ali bhai appeared as a hero, which
led to a long, successful journey for him as the hero
for innumerable super hit movies.Moreover, he produced
a lot of hit movies.
Ali bhai has served as the cultural advisor in the
previous government. Apart from that he had been associated
with the construction business for quite a while.
Some of his famous movies are listed here below:
Director Hasan Tariq's ‘Kaneez' with
Zeba, ‘Mera ghar meri jannat' with
Shamim Ara, ‘Wehshi' with Shamim Ara,
‘Ik gunah aur sahi' with Rani, ‘'Kaalu
(makrani) with Rani, 'Ibadat' with Zeba,'Watan'
(this was the re-make of director Khalil Qaiser's
memorable movie ‘Shaheed'
Seeta, Maryam, Margaret' with Deeba, director
Shabab Kiranvi's films ‘Aurat ka pyar'
with Rani, ‘Aa'ena' with Deeba, ‘Insaan
aur Aadmi' with Zeba, ‘Insaaf aur Qanoon'
with Zeba, ‘Afsana zindigi ka' with
Zeba.
‘Dil ik Aa'ena with Deeba, ‘Daman
aur chingari' with Zeba, ‘Aa'ena aur
soorat' with Shabnam, ‘Bay mesaal'
with Shabnam, ‘Nasheman' with Babra
Sharif, ‘Waday ki zanjeer' with anjuman.
‘Aag' , ‘Jaisay jaantay nahi', ‘Lori',
‘Mohabbat rang laye gee', ‘Teri soorat
meri Aankhain', ‘Ilzaam', ‘Gumrah' ‘Ik
phool ik pathar', were with Zeba.
Ozzir
Zuby
| Ozzir
Zuby was born in 1922 in Kasur. He obyained a
diploma from National College of Arts, Lahore.
He went to Italy in 1950 for further studies.
He was the founder Principal of the Institute
of Arts and Crafts at the Arts Council, Karachi.
Later on he set up his own School of Decors. |
 |
Ozzir
Zuby made sculptures of about 50 notable persnalities.Like
the great Impressionist and post-Impressionist painters
Zuby has a style of his own. Even a lay-man can distinguish
his paintings from the others. He has not succumbed
to become a mere copyist of the modern schools of
Western paintings. There is thus no chaos, no confusion
in his works as we find in the works of many of his
contemporaries in Pakistan.
His style is a vigorous style. There is movement.
There is harmony. There are contours and straight
lines but they do not make his paintings static but
like a Japanese painting they suggest movement and
dynamism.
His monumental painting 'The Awakening....6th of September,
1965' is the best tribute that a Pakistani artist
has paid to that memorable moment of our history.
Amin
Gulgee
BA.
in Economics and Art History, Yale University,
New Haven, CT, USA, 1987.
Recipient of Cogar B. Goodyear Fine Arts Award
for Thesis on Moghul Garden. |
 |
Sculptor
Amin Gulgee is an innovator of tradition. His medium
is metal, his inspiration the varied and rich spiritual
history of his native Pakistan.
In
the twelve years that the artist has been exhibiting,
Amin's work has followed many different directions,
from the purely abstract to work that is inspired
by Hindu mythology and Buddhist civilization.
Reshman
| Reshman
belonged to the golden sands of Rajisthan with
her gifted voice and known as "The Desert
Queen". She had an opportunity to leave her
village to enter the world of fame. She was discovered
by Saleem Jilani, Director, Radio Pakistan at
the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalander. |
 |
Reshman
had always been confident and when she appeared on TV,
she didn't have the slightest notion of how this would
change her life. She should be proud of her song being
adapted by Lata Mangeshkar (Indian Singing Legend) for
a movie soundtrack.
Reshman
has been visiting India several times to sing on the
shrines of Nizamuddin Aoulia, Bakhtiar Kaki and Moinuddin
Chishti. These visits have grown her assication with
India. She has been called time and again. She had also
sung for Indian movies and has been praised by many
including Dilip Kumar (Indian Film Legend). She has
performed world over and won numerous awards. People
gave her immmense love and attention.
Reshman
loves her country and says, wherever she goes, represents
Pakistan. According to her its just because of Pakistan
she is heard all over the world, otherwise it wouldn't
have happened. Reshman has every intention to continue
making her presence in the world of music.
Sajjad
Ali
| Sajjad
Ali, Pakistani Babia fame, started his career
in 1979 through the release of his album by EMI.
In 1983 he performed for the first time in the
program "Silver Jubilee" as a pop singer.
Then he performed in "Rag Rang" and
"Neelam Ghar". |
 |
He
was aware of his inborn capabilities. He first tried
his hand on audio-auditing in 1980's at EMI studio.
He soon learnt to use a camera for movie production
as well as still photography. He first directed music
video in 1988 and has since directed more then fifty
videos. He has also directed two movies and acted
in three movies. Sajjad Ali has also done some serious
playback singing for his movies and for others. His
last feature film as an actor/director was "Aik
Aur Love Story" 1998 was a blockbuster.
He
says that if he weren't the singer he would have been
the cricketer but at the teenage he started learning
music. He used to listen to Ustad Baray Ali Khan Sahab.
For
future, Sajjad Ali wants to direct and write movies
that should be known internationally. He also wants
to establish Music Research Center and Scientific
Music Academy.
Sajjad
Ali has performaed all over the world. More than twenty
of his albums have been released including "Babia
93", "Geet Ghazal", "Goldies not
Oldies", "Chief Saab", "Moody","
Aik aur love story", "Cinderella".
and many more.
Rafique
Ahmed
| Rafique
Ahmed " Feica" is a well known cartoonist
of Pakistan. He did his graduation in 1979 in
Fine Arts from National College of Arts, Lahore. |
 |
In the same year he joined "The Muslim". In
1981 he started working for the Star, Herald and Frontier
Post (Published from Peshawar & Lahore). Since 1991
he is working with Daily DAWN Karachi. Besides cartoons
he excel in manual animation.
Feica
visited many countries of the world viz. USA, UK,
and all the major cities of INDIA and had exhibitions
over there.
Bushra
Ansari
Bushra
Ansari, an artist by birth and by inheritance,
started her career in 1968 from "Kalion
Ki Mala". She call herself an artist by
inheritance because all of her brothers and
sisters as well as her mother are good singers |
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She
rejoined PTV in 1976 through "Kalian" and
since then her association seems endless. In 1982
when she did "Bijli", it gave her an overnight
fame. After Bijli, people thought that she can only
perform comedy roles well but in 1985 when she performed
in "Drama 85", it changed the views. She
performed so well that she received award for it.
It's
very difficult to cover her field as she is a versatile
artist. She is a good singer, compere, impersonator
and a writer. She enjoys all the fields.
Her
memorable programs include "Show Sha", "Fifty
Fifty", Emergency Ward", " Angan Tera",
"Show time", "Amawas", "Sungchoor",
"Ab Mera Intizar Kar, " Zara Si Awrat",
"Comedy Comedy" and many more.
Rahat Kazmi
Rahat
Kazmi is among those artistes who laid the foundation
of dramas of Pakistan Television. He started
his career in 1969 from the drama "Koltar".
So far he has performed in seven serials and
other individual plays. All of his serials received
both critical and popular acclaim. |
 |
His
major performances include "Qurbatein Aur Faslay",
"Perchaiyan", "Teesra Kinara",
"Dhoop Kinaray", "Yeh Kahan ki Dosti
hay", "Sarab", "Ragon Mein Andhera",
"Karavan" etc. His long play "Ragon
Mein Andhera" received so much appreciation and
fame that it was expanded over a series by the name
"Andhera Ujala".
Rahat
Kazmi had also been interested in dramatizing the
novels. He dramatized the English novel "Fountain
Head" into "Teesra Kinara" in which
he performed as well.
Rahat
Kazmi did his Masters in English as well as a holder
of degree in Law. Professionally he is an actor and
an educationist. He entered the field of acting by
chance and enjoys it. His favorite plays include "Qurbatein
Aur Faslay" (1971) & "Teesra Kinara"
(1980). Rahat Kazmi also performed in several Pakistani
movies. He had been to Dubai for performing in a stage
play.
Jamal Shah
Jamal
Shah, a professor of Fine Arts in a University
at Quetta, started his acting career from Quetta
TV Station. |
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He was married to Feryal Gohar Shah.Jamal appeared
as the lead role (with Talat Hussain) in British TV's
English play "Traffic."
When not acting or educating, Jamal Shah arranges
exhibitions of his paintings.
Abida
Parveen
| Abida
Parveen was born in Larkana, Sindh, Pakistan,
where her father, Ghulam Haider, ran a music school.
Though women in Muslim society are rarely encouraged
to pursue musical (or other performance) careers,
her father recognized his daughter’s extraordinary
talent at an early age and encouraged her to sing. |
 |
Her career crystallized after her marriage to the
late Ghulam Hussain Sheikh, a senior producer in Radio
Pakistan who became her mentor. She studied classical
vocal music with Salamat Ali Khan.
Abida Parveen is considered by many as one of the
greatest singers of the sufiana kalaam.
Everything
about the artist is noticeably different from her
contemporaries. A loose full-sleeved kurta and shalwar
with Sindhi ajrak chadar draped over her shoulder
is the trademark dress of Abida Parveen. With no make-up
on and very little adornment of any kind she comes
of as a devoted and honest performer of her craft.
It’s this faithful devotion to the Sufi’s
that brings about the kind of intensity that over
powers the audience.
It’s
a pleasant experience listening and watching her sing.
Abida is clearly at her best with the Punjabi Sufi
poetry of Bulle Shah and Waris Shah. Much like Nusrat
Fateh Ali Khan her awesome power to involve the listener
in her state of passion lies in her voice. Be it Punjabi,
Sindhi, Urdu or Saraiki, all lyrics are rendered with
the same intensity having a captivating effect on
the audience
Amna
Haq
A
young girl who came, who saw and who definitely
conquered!! We recognize her with many different
identities; |
 |
the stunning model who reigns on not just magazine covers
but also billboards all over town, the TV-star who people
watch just for her pretty face. No doubt, she has more
than just a different look every week, she also has
many different faces.
Companies have been dying to launch or even market their
products with just Amna's face next to them
Nilofer Shahid
We
have watched her designs on the catwalk, reciting
a poetry of their own. Read about her, gazed
at her shoots, always wondering what muse inspires
her designs to such perfection. Truth is, she
a muse of her own, her designs are always based
on different themes and inspirations from architecture,
nature and cultures |
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One word to describe some of her dazzling work in ornate
zardozi, brocade lehangas, long flowing ghagras, dupattas
and loose-cut ensembles: romanticism.Although she began
designing clothes in 1989, Nilofer introduced herself
to us in 1993 with a Mughal Collection, something she
had always been fascinated with.
Junoon
One
of the most successful rock bands in South Asia,
whose album Azadi swept the sub-continent a
couple of years ago, leaving millions of music
lovers begging for more. Probably the most controversial
and one of the best pop groups Pakistan has
ever produced - Junoon has seen the ups and
downs in the musical journey from Pakistan to
India and the world over as well |
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Junoon
comprises of three talented artistes - lead singer
Ali Azmat, Salman Ahmed and Brain O’Connell.
The group released their first album in Pakistan in
1991, but was noticed in the sub-continent only seven
years later, when Azadi was released across India,
which in fact was their fifth album. Since the time
of its inception the group was busy reaching out to
the masses back home in Pakistan and only when they
cracked a deal with EMI International to license their
music internationally in 1997 that they came out of
their shell.
Asif
Raza Mir
Asif
Raza Mir started his acting career from Lahore
TV. His earliest memorable play was "Qurat-ul-Ain"
in Ashfaq Ahmad's Ek Mohabat So Afsaney series.
|
 |
Following his roots (his father was a film editor/director
or something) he went on to join the film industry,
but early flops brought him back to TV.
Some of his best roles are in Qurat-ul-Ain, Tanhayian,
and Sumandar.
He moved to Karachi and now runs an Advertising firm.
He has put on quite some weight lately, as can be
seen in play Tansen.
Moamar
Rana
First
film: Kuriyon ko daley dana (1996)
Moammar Rana´s second film was one of
the greatest box office hits of Pakistani cinema
called "Deewanay Tere Pyar Ke". |
 |
It was produced by Sajjad Gul of Evernew pictures
and directed by the top notch director Syed Noor.
"Deewanay Tere Pyar Ke" was released on
November 7, 1997 and remained in theatres for one
year. His other hits include mega hit film "Chooriyan",
Nikki Jai Haan, Reshma, Mehndi wale hath, Jungle Queen,
Daku Rani, Pal do pal, Rukhsati, Mujhe Chand Chahiye,
Uff ye biwiyan, Sapnay Apnay Apnay, Ghazi Ilm-ud-din
Shaheed and Javed Sheikh's current blockbuster "Ye
Dill Aapka Hua", which is the first movie of
the sub continent shot in Spain. Muammar is currently
working in many projects including Samina Peerzada's
Shararat.
Abrar-ul-Haq
| Abrar-ul-Haq,
or better known as 'The Billo Day Ghar Man', is
a hot favorite in Pakistan and one of Punjab's
greatest assets in the modern age music field.
|
 |
After having taught at Lahore's Aitchison College,
Abrar decided to try his hands in the entertainment
industry - great decision! He is not a one hit wonder
and has proved his worth not only in our music industry
but also in outperforming in several social and welfare
activities through his NGO "Sahara For Life".
As he puts it "Sahara means support to the dispossessed...Sahara
is focussed on health and education. Abrar has launched
his very first project the "Sughra Shafi Hospital"
at District Narowal.
Abrar
with his multiple talents is growing in popularity
amongst those who listen and love his music and amongst
those who have never listened to his Bilo.
Albums
by Abrar-ul-Haq:
Billo De Ghar (1995)
Majajani (1997)
Bay Ja Cycle Tay (2000)
Iqbal
Hussain
Assistant
Professor of fine arts at National College of
Arts, One-man shows: Lahore, 1981, 1984, 1989,
1993, 1995; Islamabad 1982, 1990, 1991; Peshawar
1982; Karachi 1984; participated in group shows
in Bangla Desh 1983; India 1986; Seoul, London,
Paris, Brussels 1986; India 1991, 1992, 1994;
USA 1991, 1994, 1995; France 1995; won several
national and provincial awards 1981, 1982, 1983,
1984, 1985, 1986. |
 |
Work figures in collections of Lahore Museum, American
Consulate, Chief Minister House, Governor House, Lahore;
Prime Minister House, National Gallery, Islamabad;
Peshawar MUseum; in private and public collections
in Delhi, Copenhagen, West Germany, Luxembourg, USA,
UK, Kenya, Switzerland and France. Interviewed by
a Dutch Radio & Television 1976; a documentary
made by French Television on him 1995; exhibited in
Paris among 34 artists short listed from 321 entries
from all over the world, 1995; and a research thesis
written on him by an academic from Scotland.
Ustad
Miran Buksh Moortanwaley
(1877-1944)
Lived in Koocha Musawaran of the Ghoomti Bazar, walled
city of Lahore. Studied for a drawing master's course
at the Mayo School of Arts during the time of Lionel
Heath. Principal of the School 1913-1929.
Joined government service as an art
teacher at the Railway Technical School, Lahore; transferred
to the Mayo School as the senior drawing teacher.
Later became the Vice Principal.
Anna
Molka
(13.08.1917, London 21.04.1994, Lahore)
Polish by origin she was the pioneer of art education
in the Punjab. She started evening art classes at
Lahore Arts Council (Alhamra) and later in a village
near Lahore. Her untiring efforts gradually upgraded
art education beyond B.A to M.A. in fine art at the
Punjab University. She was Head of fine art department
from 1940-1978. Her contribution to art education
and its promotion heas been most influential. Her
paintings and sculpture are found in many public and
private collections in Pakistan and abroad.
Ustad Bashir-Ud-Din
(B.
11.07.1922)
Diploma in commercial design 1940, fine arts 1944,
textile design 1946, miniature painting 1948, from
Mayo school of Arts, Lahore. Taught painting and drawing
at National College of Arts, Lahore, 1952-82. Participated
in several national (1982, 1984, 1988, 1994) and local
(1960, 1975, 1977) exhibitions including Duck Exhibitions
including Duck Exhibitions, YMCA, Lahore 1941; held
solo exhibition at Lahore 1992. Awarded Fellowship
of the National College of Arts, 1994.
Nigar
Nazar
Nigar Nazar, the first woman cartoonist of Pakisan
and perhaps the entire Muslim world, has for over
30 years rendered pictorial humor with a down
to earth pragmatism. These highly expressive cartoons
have provided cheer to gloomy days and attempt
to beat the hypocrisy of society. Gogi cartoons
have appeared in newspapers, magazines and television
around the world. Recently her cartoons have been
put on the exterior of seven buses in Pakistan.
The children all want to ride the colourful "Gogi-bus." |
 |
For
her charitable work, Nigar has recieved many commendations
and honors from organizations such as: Unicef, UNDP,
Media Watch Newsleter, Bishtek International School,
Kinnard College for Women, International Charity Group
Maputo, The Word Festival of Australia, Pan Pacific,
and South East Asia Women's Association.
Currently,
Nigar is working on a new book; According to her a
very useful book for graduates who need to find a
job. This is being prepared for the students of the
University of Oregon, where Nigar has arrived as a
Fulbright Scholar. She is afficliated with the art
department at the University of Oregon.
