British artist accuses Alhamra admin of mistreatment
LAHORE – A female artist who came all the way from England for an exhibition at Alhamra Art Centre has told harrowing tales of mistreatment at the hands of people engaged by the Alhamra administration for different assignments.
After getting the information through internet, Naheed contacted the Alhamra administration who encouraged her to exhibit her paintings at the gallery.
“They told me that everything will be taken care of including handling of my paintings, display matters and the event coverage in media,” Naheed said talking to The Nation.
But as the events unfolded, Naheed started thinking that she would have been better off had she opted for another venue instead of Alhamra.
“Even the helper here or the tea stall owner would not listen to me if I refused to pay them few bucks. They would throw away my paintings,” she said.
Even my request with the Alhamra administration fell on deaf ears. Rather they would encourage such acts of harassment,” Naheed Akhtar yelled making a statement.
Such tales are not new to Alhamra as on an earlier occasion renowned artist Kohari made a flurry of similar such complaints.
Naheed said as a female artist she wanted to look into issues other than the ‘acceptable’ ones.
“I consciously take up the issue of the veil (chader) as a signifier of available options,” the UK artist observed.
Responding to a query on the symbol of ‘protection’, she said she wanted to throw light on women’s head to toe outfit.
“Art is a necessary and normal means of human expression and I give a structure to my aims and values by using symbols in my paintings and with the use of henna as a media with oil paint,” Naheed added.
“I have used henna as a strong tool for dialogue with the viewer. And the screen of henna designs take the viewers to the state I am talking about. This media initiates a synthetic symbolism and builds a bridge between me and the ideas and the observer.
For example, in my painting “Long Way to Go” the lady sitting dressed up in bright colours, the figure is painted bigger than the arches behind and a screen of henna on the top. The unproportioned figure and arches signify the situation of women when they are made to live under dominant males. Arches are Islamic way of architecture and henna designs are purely Pakistani traditional designs,” Naheed explained.
About her inspirations, Naheed said she saw herself with contemporary artists Paula Rego, Ena Swansea and Farida Kahlon. “The way Paulo Rego tells a story in her paintings inspires me. Ena Swansea’s canvas invokes sentimentality, which is my main attraction to her work and linear designs,” she said.
Talking to The Nation Alhamra Art Gallery Curator Sania said our annual budget is around 10.3million which we use for different things. Sania said Alhamra does not charge a penny from the exhibitors whereas other private galleries charge more or less 30 to 35 per cent of the revenue in exchange for all facilities including media coverage, refreshments, print material etc.
Talking about the issue of Naheed Akhtar, she said Naheed should have contacted her if the staff was irritating her. “As far as the media coverage is concerned we arrange it on request,” she added.
She said some space has been earmarked for the selection committee members and the paintings of Ejazul Hassan at the Alhamra Art Gallery.
Talking about artist from abroad she said some times a legend artist contacts us and we give him some facilities. Apart from that, no personal favour is given to anyone as it affects the quality of work.
Executive Director Lahore Art Council Asghar Hussain Giallani, while talking to The Nation, said we give space to artist which is more than enough.
Source: Nation
Date:4/23/2007
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