Prime Minister of Pakistan Mr Guilani has recently inaugurated an Art Exhibition at Paris. The exhibition held at Guimet Museum displayed Gandhar Art objects. Gandhar period of art was one of the most dynamic periods in the history of the Indian Art (By India is meant the Indian subcontinent covering present day India, Pakistan and Afganistan). Gandhar art showed confluence of subcontinental motifs and European aesthetics.
Because of the European aesthetics, Gandhar Art had once recieved a lot of attention from the western press and the art works were collected by many European collectors and Museums. Now as Asia is emerging as a hub of contemporary art, a fresh look at the subcontinent’s past was long waited.
However the exhibition has seen also in the context of the destruction of the Bamian statues by Talibans in Afganistan a few years back at the height of US Taliban war. The destruction of these statues rekindled a kind of nostalgia in the west and riding this wave a series of gandhar based art exhibitions were held in many cities, like in Bonn (2008), in Zurich (2009) and now in Paris.
Gandhar Art at Guimet Musuem, Paris
The exhibition was not very novel as far as the displayed itmens were concerned, but the impact of this exhibition cannot be denied. A new interest in Pakistani Art is welcome as all such shows help in spilling over of a little limelight to the country and its art tradition as well.
