Culture directorate urged to preserve calligrapher’s works

Some rare and precious art pieces illustrating popular couplets of Sufi poet Rahman Baba and Ghani Khan are on the verge of ruin as the authorities concerned have yet to come forward to preserve this national asset.

Noted painter and calligrapher late Mohammad Arif Minhas had made about 100 art pieces illustrating the couplets of Rahman Baba and Ghani Khan during a hectic effort of six years. His son Zeeshan Arif, a young artist and photographer now fears that the art pieces of his legendary father might fall to philistinism and ruin due to a lack of space in his dingy home.

Mr Arif has sought assistance of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa culture directorate in persevering the master pieces of his father.
Mr Minhas had represented Pakistan in art competitions in Turkey, Libya, Egypt, Iran and the Gulf countries and won gold medals, shields and cash prizes for his artworks. He was an expert calligrapher of Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Pashto and English. His first book on Pashto calligraphy titled “Gulistan-i-Qalam” came out in 2008 and was well received.

Mr Arif of Kochi bazaar, Peshawar city, told Dawn that his father had met the former chief minister Haider Khan Hoti and former culture minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain and had sought their help to preserve the art pieces, but to no avail. His sudden death on December 23rd, 2011 has further reduced the chances of the artworks being preserved, he said.

“The art of calligraphy and painting runs through our family blood as my grandfather M.M. Sharif too was a great artist who had migrated from Gujranwala before the partition and settled in Peshawar. I learnt the art of calligraphy and painting from my father. My father was very concerned about the proper preservation of his artworks,” he recalled.

“I have stacked the art pieces of my father on the walls and floor of my murky room as I don’t have extra space in my home. I want that KP culture directorate to purchase these art pieces for the Rahman Baba shrine where it could be properly persevered and also visitors to the Sufi poet shrine would show interest in it,” Mr Arif suggested.

He said that the art pieces were put on display in 2006 in an exhibition arranged under the auspices of the Abasin Arts Council, Peshawar.

“At times my father would seem to have a strange kind of feeling and would say it seemed he had wasted his life on serving his pursuits which had no value and respect. I would be happy if a tasteful person purchased these art pieces and preserved them,” Mr Arif said.

Answering a question, he regretted that there was no art gallery in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where artworks of the noted artist could be preserved. He said that the same treatment was also meted out to the precious art pieces of other renowned artists of the city.

Culture directorate urged to preserve calligrapher’s works

Source: www.dawn.com