In 2000, ‘Visions of Divinity: The Art of Gandhara’ was put on display at the Mohatta Palace Museum, Karachi. The exhibition represented several strands of thought which are pertinent for us today. The art form of Gandhara remained essentially indigenous and faithful to its local roots, evolved as a celebration of the Buddhist faith – a faith that travelled across subcontinent to dominate the cultures of Central Asia, China, Japan, Indo China and Indonesia. Gandhara was a seminal influence in the arts of Asia and along with the Indus Valley civilisation, illustrates the ambit of Pakistan’s earliest links with the outside world.
This exhibition aspired to hone an awareness of the origins and range of the artistic traditions of Pakistan and the cultural linkages that they helped to forge. Pictured here is from the exhibition, detail from a Boddhisattva schist from Taxila, Punjab, dating back to the 2nd century A.D. It shows a young Bodhisattva is seated with his ankles crossed on a decorated stool.
Did you know the Mohatta Palace Museum has a gallery which houses it’s permanent collection consisting of the works of one of the greatest maestros in the Indian Subcontinent. This work is displayed in our permanent gallery collection, titled ‘’Metamorphosis of Nightfall’, an oil on canvas painted in 1968 by Sadequain and gifted to the Mohatta Palace Museum as their private collection, in 1998 by Col. Naheed Malik and Begum Aamna Majeed Malik. This gallery on the ground floor which houses the permanent collection has three large scale Sadequain paintings. Definitely one of a kind to see these masterpieces on your next visit to Mohatta!
Saturday, 16 January 2021