Co-presented by Asia Art Archive and Hauser & Wirth Institute, this event brings together two art historians to share their research from the archive of Zahoor ul Akhlaq (1941-99), one of the most influential artists and art educators in Pakistan. Born in Delhi, Akhlaq migrated to Karachi as a child, then attended the National College of Arts in Lahore, where he studied with pioneering artist and educator Shakir Ali. He received postgraduate degrees in printmaking from Hornsey College of Art (1966-67) and Royal College of Art (1968-69) in London, and later studied at Yale University (1987-89). Comprising photographic materials, writings, correspondence, sketchbooks, and drawings, Akhlaq’s archive traces the artist’s development from his student years to his subsequent role as a teacher and administrator, showcasing how he combined modernist abstraction with traditions of calligraphy and miniature painting.
Titled “Cross Section: Public Sculptures of Zahoor ul Akhlaq,” Dr Samina Iqbal’s presentation investigates how the artist balanced his own aesthetic reflections with patrons’ demands and public reception when developing public sculptures. Focusing on five works displayed in various cities in Pakistan, Iqbal discusses how Akhlaq conveyed his artistic vision through public projects, and how reception to public artworks change over time within dynamic sociopolitical environments. The presentation highlights Crescent Star at the National Sports and Cultural Complex (Islamabad, 1976); the monument at Tarbela Dam (Haripur, 1983); the sculpture at Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture (Karachi, 1992); Fasting Buddha at the National College of Arts, Lahore (1996); and Fish at the Pakistan Maritime Museum (Karachi, 1997).
Dr Simone Wille’s presentation, “Mobilities, Forms, and Geographies: From the Photographic Archive of Zahoor ul Akhlaq,” draws on the artist’s extensive archive of images, establishing an understanding of the geographies Akhlaq visited and captured while travelling. The presentation shows how a series of images in the photo archive-of landscapes, architecture, objects, and their details-contributed to his artistic work. Wille discusses how Akhlaq’s formal artistic language, together with his itinerant practice, inform his positioning in the global art world.