Lubna Agha loses her final battle
AMONG the top ranking Pakistani-American artists, Lubna Agha, who sadly passed away on Sunday in Boston, did not opt to convey her themes to Western art enthusiasts through traditional genres like miniatures, but chose to communicate through an idiom which was unique and, at the same time, not totally alien to them. She combined the modern-abstract style of the West with traditional Islamic art motifs. (source)
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“Coalition” de Khalil Chishtee
(sacs poubelles et colle) 2006
Khalil Chishtee partage sont temps entre la Californie et le Pakistan, il est principalement connu pour sa série de sculptures à l’aide de sacs poubelles, et sa relation au corps très kafkaesque.
“Le plastique reste du plastique, quelque soit sa couleur, c’est l’impression qu’il laisse sur le visiteur qui m’importe”
Site de l’artiste : http://www.khalilchishtee.com/
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asianhistory:
Stamp seal with a seated male figure, ca. 2000–1900 B.C.; Harappan. Indus Valley, Mohenjo-daro, DK 12050. Indus inscription. Steatite; L. 2.7 cm (1 1/8 in.); W. 2.7 cm (1 1/8 in.). Islamabad Museum, Islamabad NMP 50.296. Courtesy of the Department of Archaeology and Museums, Ministry of Minorities, Culture, Sports, Tourism, and Youth Affairs, Government of Pakistan.
This type of seal with the horned deity, wearing bangles on both arms and seated in yogic position on a throne, appears at the larger Indus sites during the final phase of the Harappan period, circa 2000–1900 B.C. The nude image appears to have three faces and is bearded. It wears a headdress of wide, spreading bull or water-buffalo horns, which has a triple-leafed branch sprouting from the center. Five signs of the Indus script appear on either side of the headdress. The figure wears seven bangles on the left arm and six on the right, with the hands resting on the knees. The heels are pressed together under the groin, and the feet project beyond the edge of the throne. The feet of the throne are carved with the hoof of a bovine as on the bull and unicorn seals. Because of similarities in a few iconographic elements, some scholars have suggested that this seated figure represents an early form of the Hindu deity Siva, specifically in his role as the master of animals—”Pasupati Nath”—although there is no confirmed connection between the horned figure on the Indus seals and later Hindu deities. He may rather be a divine bull-man.
- The Met
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Hanging Fire Contemporary Art from Pakistan
by Salima Hashmi
DESCRIPTION:
Accompanying the first U.S. museum exhibition devoted to contemporary art from Pakistan, this dynamic catalogue provides a groundbreaking look at recent and current trends in Pakistani art. “Hanging Fire” covers a fascinating range of subjects and media, from installation and video art to sculpture, drawing, and paintings in the ‘contemporary miniature’ tradition. Essays by distinguished contributors from a variety of fields, including Salima Hashmi, Pakistani-American sociologist and historian Ayesha Jalal, and the celebrated novelist Mohsin Hamid, place contemporary Pakistani art in a cultural, historical, and artistic perspective. The book’s title, “Hanging Fire”, alludes to the contemporary economic, political, and social tensions - both local and global - from which these artists find their creative inspiration. It may also suggest to the viewer to delay judgment, particularly based on assumptions or preconceived notions about contemporary society and artistic expression in Pakistan today.
Buy the book, here.
The forgotten Jain temples of Sindh
The ruins of about half a dozen Jain temples can be found in Nagarparkar taluka in Sindh’s Tharparkar district. These are the only hint left of the past glory of Jain architecture in this region. Previously sacred sites, these temples now lie deserted and forgotten as few Jains remain in Pakistan. Since most Jain families migrated to India after Partition, there is no one left to safeguard these temples from the theft of bricks and other architectural elements. In the absence of restoration projects, the Jain ruins will surely crumble away with the passage of time. (Text and photographs: Mahadev Dheerani)
Of all the folk tales of Punjab, Waris Shah’s Heer is the most widely read, recited (actually, sung), commented upon and quoted love story. People have even done Ph.Ds on it. It is a very long poem, written in the Punjabi baint meter, comprising of 630 odd stanzas of 6 to 12 or more lines each.
Syed Waris Shah wrote it sometime in the 1760s.
Rural folks in Punjab routinely gather, as they always did, at the end of a hard day’s work, under a tree or a chappar (thatched canopy) to smoke hukka and discuss and share the daily news, views and common problems. It is not uncommon at such gatherings for someone to sing a few passages from Heer. Folks listen to it, mesmerized both by the melody and its contents. Older people would often quote a line or two from Waris Shah’s Heer as a piece of wisdom in their conversations. In fact, Heer is quoted by the rural folks more often than any other traditional book of wisdom.
Read more by clicking on the link.
Squadron Leader Adnan Siraj. Painting: The art of flying
Squadron Leader Adnan Siraj of Pakistan Air Force is a young officer driven by passion for aviation and love for painting. He has dedicated his life to preserving PAF’s glorious moments on canvas.
Our note: Pakistani nation is celebrating the glorious stand the nation took in the unfortunate war with India in 1965. We have decided to commemorate the day with sharing achievement of young Squadron Leader Adnan Siraj. Read more about him here: news item.
Further news items relating to the day: Mauj Khan gives an eye-witness account of the events that unfolded during the 1965 Indo-Pak war / Defence Day - Keeping history alive.
Pakistan Zindabad!
The play explores the burqa as a dramatic device and uses it as a metaphor
