Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) hosted a splendid new art exhibition, “Remembering The Future – Decolonizing creative spaces” today by 3 women artists including Nusra Latif Qureshi, Sadia Pasha Kamran & Sania Samad. Augmenting on emotional and intellectual collaboration that resulted in form of the book Bano’s Companion to Feminist Art –Women, Art & Politics in Pakistan, ‘the three women living in three different worlds’ come together to share their ideas about themselves and as part of a ‘decolonizing’ world. Sadia Pasha Kamran, a writer and an academic from Lahore, Nusra Latif Qureshi, a visual artist from Melbourne and Sania Samad, a Textile artist based in New York are alumni of the National College of Arts (NCA), Lahore – an institution that still carries the colonial legacy in art and design education yet has been grooming artists that are, to Macaulay’s disappointment, not at all just “Indian in blood and British in manners”. The exhibition aims at adding the indigenous voices to the global debate on decolonization.
The Opening ceremony was heavily visited by dignitaries, VIPs, Ambassadors and students across Islamabad. Each Artist brought a different set of skills to the show along with their splendid works, in addition to showcasing their abilities in exploring various mediums. Each artist has a different practice and media along with their distinct visual language.
Dr. Sadia appreciated PNCA for taking up the initiative to open debate on the processes of decolonization and how this can contribute towards development of mind and society as society. The Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) was set up to spearhead the development of arts in Pakistan. The council aims to build an environment conducive to the flourishing of the arts, where the arts are accessible to everyone and artists and art groups have the commitment, financial support and resources to excel at home, and on the world stage.
