Pakistani art has come of age on the world stage. As a result of growing international interest in Pakistan contemporary art offers another face to its identity, providing it with a much needed catharsis for a bruised global image. The Mohatta Palace Museum in Karachi is taking the lead in showcasing contemporary art from Pakistan and is planning a major exhibition to display and documents this success. ARTKABINETT social network of fine art collectors is keeping a close eye on emerging artists from this region of Asia.
Karachi has been a gateway for the absorption and dissemination of diverse artistic traditions for centuries. It is historically and culturally relevant to locate such an exhibition against the backdrop of the city’s cultural evolution and the position that the Museum occupies as a space for public interaction and exchange.
The ongoing exhibition -- The Rising Tide -- will examine how Pakistani artist have engaged in space marked by multiplicity, colonialism, modernity and spirituality. The multi-layered histories through which Pakistani artist continue to negotiate their ideas help us all to determine how we perceive ourselves as individuals aswell as collectively.
Prominent works emphasize the war taking place near the Afghan border -- with interpretations of bomber drones, and bloody scenes (installation shown above).
Most pertinently. The Rising Tide offers us an opportunity to examine our art on our own terms and through a lens with relevance to the history of art.The woks on disply will be drawn from the energy of artists working in Karachi, Lahore, Pishawar and Quetta, amongst other cities, to demonstrate the vitality and diversity of art practice in Pakistan.
History of the Museum
After the British annexed Sindh in 1843, their presence and authority began to manifest itself in the architecture of the city of Karachi. Army cantonments, municipal buildings, churches and bungalows were built using a new style of architecture.
A fusion of European, Victorian, Gothic and Mughal elements were adapted to local materials. Karachi rapidly rose to prominence as an important trading port, attracting people from Kashmir, Central Asia, Iran, the north west and north east India, principally Bombay, parts of Kutch and Rajasthan.
In 1927 Shiv Rattan Mohatta, a successful Marwari entrepreneur, commissioned a palatial house in the affluent neighbourhood of Clifton. Mohatta had made his fortune as a ship chandler and trader. The architect commissioned for his palace, Agha Hussain Ahmed, had come from Jaipur to take up an assignment as chief surveyer for the Karachi municipality.
He designed a number of buildings in Karachi and Mohatta Palace (seen here) was to prove the coup de maitre of his professional career.
Working in a Mughal revival style with a combination of locally available yellow Gizri stone and pink stone from Jodhpur, he sought to recreate the Anglo Mughal palaces of the Rajput princes.
Mohatta Palace has an area of 18, 599 sq. feet and its façades are adorned with windows, stone brackets, spandrels, domes, balustrades, carved floral motifs and railings.
It consists of stately rooms designed originally for entertainment on the ground floor and more private facilities on the first floor with a balcony facing the Arabian sea. An elegant configuration of five domes adorns the rooftop while octagonal towers stand proudly at the corners.
