Posts Tagged paintings

My dear friend Salman Chishty is holding an exhibition at the death anniversary (Urs=Union) celebrations of Khawaja Muinuddin Chishty. This is such an innovative tribute to the great Chishty saint. I recall seeing some of these works that he was collecting in Ajmer earlier this year.

This story from the Times of India came as a pleasant surprise …

AJMER: The Sufi message of peace and harmony is being propagated through an exhibition of paintings called ‘Sufi art exhibition’ organized by Salman Chishti, a Sufi Scholar and a curator of art paintings.

He is displaying his collection of 100 paintings on handmade khadi paper at the Chishti Manzil here. The theme of exhibition revolves around calligraphy and paintings depicting Sufi values.

At the exhibition, the Sufi paintings of Najmul Hasan Chishti, a khadim of the Khwaja and a calligraphy artist. The unique feature of this exhibition is the representation of the saying of Sufis in calligraphy, along with its meaning illustrated through a painting in the background.

The principal essence of Najmul’s works is portraying life in ‘Sufi Islam’ and especially on ‘Sama, a form of mediation, widely practiced by the Sufi ‘dervish’. One can observe Rumi poetry in many of his paintings. He had beautifully portrayed the whirling ‘dervishes’ in ecstasy. (more…)

During my recent visit to Lahore, I met the Lahore artist, Iqbal Hussain. We had a nice, engaging chat, saw his recent works some displayed and some eating dust in the splendid Cooco’s Cafe located next to the Badshahi Mosque.

Iqbal’s matter-of-fact portraits have introduced the multiple nuances and shades of Lahore’s red-light area to the world. The women subjects are mostly from the area and he paints them with stark candour and brings out the depths of expressions and emotions in his lines and brush-strokes.

Perhaps the greatest contribution of Iqbal is the establishment of Cooco’s Cafe that has turned into a cultural landmark and has also catalysed urban renewal in the neighbourhood.

Among his recent paintings is the portrait of actor-writer Feryal Ali Gauhar with her dog. This is an uncommon subject but the result is fabulous. I was quick to take a photo (see the image below).

Iqbal is a down-to-earth artist with no pretensions. The directness and simplicity of his work is a reflection of his personality. He braved the mainstream opposition to his paintings with a stoic attitude and has invested his time and soul into the growth of cooco’s as a fine place that offers much more than the old city delicacies and cuisine. I can’t wait to meet him again and see his new work.