The way ghazal singers like Iqbal Bano and Mehdi Hassan made Faiz Ahmed Faiz immortal, the same way the illustrated paintings by Aslam Kamal have added to the grace and legacy of Faiz. Kamal not only gave an everlasting honor to Faiz through his illustrations but also donated his large canvas titled ‘Aaj Bazaar mein Pabjolan Chalo’ to National Art Gallery (NAG) saying “this illustration would surely help visitors to ‘have a chit chat’ with Faiz. The interpretations of his poetic collection ‘Nuskha ha ay wafa’ which was one of the finest poets in Udru, is illustrated by an eminent painter, calligrapher, illustrator, designer, writer and poet Aslam Kamal who met Faiz in 1977 at his solo exhibition interpreting Iqbal’s poetry. Since then Kamal has extensive experience not only illustrating the poetic work of Iqbal, and Ghalib but used his brush strokes for Faiz to spread his message of love, peace and equality. Paying homage to Faiz as the nation is celebrating the year 2011 as Faiz Centennial year, Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) in association with the Ministry of Information And Broadcasting on Thursday exhibited the interpreted illustrations of Aslam Kamal titled ‘Poetry on canvas’ to honour Faiz.
“I started transforming Faiz’s poetry on canvas in 1983 when Faiz gave me the green signal,” a soft-spoken artist said while talking to this scribe. Aslam said he randomly picked Faiz’s poetry from his collection that was packed with inspirational thoughts and induced the lesson of love for all and raised the voice of the oppressed. “Faiz’s thoughts are for the common masses, who struggle all their lives for democracy, against dictatorship and for human rights and justice for all and self-respect,” the artist said.
Aslam said Faiz was not just a poet of romanticism but a philosopher who always raised his voice against disparity. “The collection presented in the exhibition was an illustrative depiction of Faiz’s thoughts and inspiration, composed in a most inspiring and effective diction,” he said.
“I have been honoured to spend a lot of time with Faiz. And some of my illustrations have reflections of Faiz’s personal traits as well. His personality had multidimensional aspects. Faiz is illustrated in a few of my paintings with a cigarette in his hand as he was a chain smoker,” Aslam said. He said a few of his illustrations highlighted the feelings of Faiz when he was in a trance.
Kamal said his illustrations about over 550 intellectuals, writers and poets put up in the Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) was a unique work. “Over 20,000 dust covers are having the illustrations/ interpretations done by me. No one in the world has so far done it. That is why I have been nominated for the Guinness Book of the World Records, the artist said. PNCA Director General, addressing on the occasion, said that Faiz was appointed the first chairman of the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA). “Faiz was among the founding fathers of this Council that is why PNCA has arranged a series of events to celebrate 2011 as Faiz Ahmed Faiz year. There are a lot of activities in the pipeline to pay glowing tributes to the legendary poet, Nasir said. Talking about the work of Aslam Kamal, PNCA chief said Kamal had shown his ‘kamal’ transforming Faiz’s poetic thoughts on canvas. “This exhibition is just a beginning of the end and there is no end in paying tribute and remembering Faiz,” Nasir concluded. The exhibit started at NAG gallery no 2 and attracted a number of art lovers and students from various art institutions.
42 paintings by Aslam Kamal are based on Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s poetry. The event is part of Faiz’s centenary celebrations organised by Lahore Museum. The artist through his works has tried to elaborate Faiz’s poetry and its various aspects. Some of Faiz’s popular poems such as `Aaj Bazar Mein Pa Bajaolan chalo’, and `Dashat-e-Tanhai’ have been illustrated by the artist in his works. The event was an interactive one as artists and media persons throughout the programme had given the opportunity to have a dialogue with the artist for a better understanding of his work. On Friday, PNCA Visual Arts Department Director, Musarrat Naheed Imam announced that Kamal will deliver a lecture to a gathering at NAG in connection with his ongoing exhibition. “In his lecture, he will cover a host of aspects about Allama Iqbal and Faiz and will highlight the metaphor and simile used by them in their poetry.
