OVER the course of its tumultuous existence, the story of Pakistan has been told in myriad ways. In keeping with the debate surrounding its very creation, the country’s ‘narrative’ has often been manipulated by enemies who wished for its annihilation, by dictators who sought control, and by terrorists and nihilists wanting to impose their own ideology. Poets and artists and activists have sought to unravel these malicious yarns with words and paint; not all have succeeded, though some have left a positive imprint.

A laudable effort to showcase the country’s talents was initiated recently and is ongoing. The ‘Manzar: Art and Architecture from Pakistan 1940s to today’ is open for viewing at the Qatar National Museum in Doha, Qatar. Designed by architect Raza Ali Dada, and curated by the team of the Art Mill, Qatar’s Museum of Modern Art, with Indus Valley School’s director of graduate studies Zarmeene Shah, Manzar was inaugurated by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the ruler of Qatar and Shaykha Al Mayassa Bint Hamad whose vision has been instrumental in creating a vibrant museum culture in Qatar.

Featuring some 200 works of art, Manzar presents the kind of multidimensional, multilayered and dynamic narrative of the country that can only be told through its art. It eloquently captures a moment of simultaneous triumph and loss as reflected in Salima Hashmi’s painting ‘Zones of Dreams’, which delivers a complicated texture of Pakistani history and visual culture.

Manzar does not limit itself to........

© Dawn