Genesis 2008

‘The Genesis’ is an appropriate reference for the exhibition as these are the nascent creations of a group of contemporary Miniaturists, who have graduated from the Department of Miniature Painting at the NCA in 2008. Their art stems from a genre which is completely Pakistani in all its manifestations. All of them have honed their skills in the miniature studio, pouring over the emergence of this art form, which they have inherited. The process of miniature painting is as much about the journey as it is about the end. The process of creation, the conch shells which hold the hues. The fine squirrel hair brushes, the instruments of their skill and then the surface, the ‘wasli’, such a romantic word. In Urdu poetry, ‘WASL’ is used to describe the meeting of the beloved This exhibition is fascinating in its diversity. Their themes, arising from personal realities and environments, are common with those who have come before. The dexterity and manipulation of the traditional material is entirely their own.