A blast of cold showers is washing every bit of warmth from the capital. The dreary drops of rain confide people to their warm, cosy homes, the feeling of lethargy overwhelming every active bone in the body.
But to sit outside in the veranda of a restaurant with a few friends, dressed in a thick clothes, drinking coffee etc, enjoying the light drizzle, is truly a feast one should take time out to enjoy.
A spell-bound select gathering of art connoisseurs and a presentation on contemporary art by gifted artist Salima Hashmi turned the evening at Islamabad Club into one of the rare social gatherings that provide a very rich food for thought and a kaleidoscopic view of the past and present of the Pakistani social scene.
From the resistant movement of pre-independence artists against the status quo of British academics and for the revival of Mughal art to their sufferings in the days of military dictator Zia-ul Haq, Ms Hashmi depicted both gloomy and bright aspects of Pakistani art scene. She pinned high hopes on the present generation of artists, especially women painters. The event had been organised by the Asian Study Group.
IN HER PRESENTATION ON 'ROMANCING WITH THE PRESENT: The Pakistani art scene', she described the quality, medium and the theme of the works right from A R Chugtai and Shahid Ali (who rejected the British style of painting and strived for the revival of Mughal art in the 40s) to Jamil Baloch whose sculptures lamented the collateral damage in the missile attacks and military operation in Balochistan and to Saira Waseem, some of whose work is almost a satire on the politics of US President George W. Bush and his Pakistani man in uniform, President General Pervez Musharraf.
It was walking down the memory lane when Ms Hashmi started discussing a 1983 manifesto signed by seven women artists, should focus on ethos that preached liberty, gender equality, democracy and basic human rights as a reaction to the oppressing anti-women laws introduced by General Zia.
Salima Hashmi was one of those who signed the manifesto besides Mehr Afroz, Nahid Raza, Qudsia Nisar and Duriya Kazi. Ms Kazi's works made fun of male chauvinism and hit at gender equality prevalent and being openly supported by state machinery in the 80s covertly designed to inculcate religious extremism in the Pakistani society in order to provide raw materials for Jihadis who had to fight the US war against the USSR in Afghanistan.
In fact, the era of Zia provided such themes in abundance to the artists of that time, Ms Hashmi said. Speaking on the occasion, art critics said Pakistan was blessed with talent as the works of maestros like A R Chughtai and Sadequain were among the most respected and recognised globally.
However, historically, as has been the case in the West, there were few women painters who had acquired high acclaim. In the 1996 edition of his book, Painting in Pakistan, Ijaz-ul Hassan had beautifully presented the history of painting in Pakistan, starting from the Mughal era, and introduced the works of about a 100 painters from the region. Of the 59 artists whose works dating before 1980s were discussed, only seven were women.
In contrast, among the 38 artists, each of whom was introduced briefly in the last chapter as emerging painters of the late 70s-80s, there were 12 women. One of them was Salima Hashmi whom Hassan considered a new-comer in the world of serious art in the late 80s. today, some 15 years after Ijaz-ul Hassan first wrote about her, Salima Hashmi is one of the most well-known artists of Pakistan.
Besides being an accomplished painter, she taught at Pakistan's prestigious National College of Arts (NCA) for about 30 years and served as the college's principal for four years. In 1999, she received Pride of Performance Award.