Salima Hashmi - Ho w Func tio nalis ts S e e the Wo rld Functionalists stress the impo rtanc PDF

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Ho w Func tio nalis ts S e e the Wo rld Functionalists stress the impo rtanc e of value c o ns e ns us in society, and do not recognize that c o nflic t may occur. Any conflict that does occur is seen as te mpo rary and counteracted, as s o c ie ty becomes be tte r. Functionalists ac c e pt t...

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WESTERN INFLUENCE IN ART An Artist: Salima Hashmi Salima Hashmi (born in 1942) is a Pakistani painter artist, former college professor, antinuclear weapons activist and former caretaker minister in Sethi caretaker ministry. She has served for four years as a professor and the dean of National College of Arts. She is the eldest daughter of the renowned poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz and his British-born wife Alys Faiz. She represents the first generation of modern artists in Pakistan who carry an artistic identity

different

from

indigenous

artists.

She

is

known

for

condemning

the Pakistani and Indian nuclear programs; she is one of the few Pakistani intellectuals who condemned the nuclear tests by India and Pakistan in 1998. She received the Pride of Performance Award in 1999 for her services to the nation. PERSONAL LIFE Salima was born to Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Alys Faiz in 1942 in before the partition New Delhi, India, but is Pakistani. She has one younger sister, Muneeza Hashmi, a senior producer with Pakistan TV. Her mother, Alys Faiz, was a sister of Christobel Taseer, mother of Salman Taseer, the former Governor of Punjab, Pakistan. Salima migrated with her family to Lahore during the partition of India in 1947 and was raised in Lahore. After studying design at Lahore's National College of Arts (NCA), she moved to England in the early 1960s, where she studied at the Bath Academy of Art in Corsham, receiving a diploma in art education from there in 1965. Salima also studied at the Rhode Island School of Design, US. Salima married a fellow professor Shoaib Hashmi. The couple has two children, son Yasser Hashmi and one daughter Mira Hashmi. Her husband Shoaib Hashmi retired from a

teaching position at Government College University, Lahore, and was also a popular co-star with her in comedy and children's television shows on Pakistan television in the early 1970s - for example the highly popular 1970s children's show 'Akkar Bakkar'. CAREER "Salima

Hashmi,

artist,

curator

and

contemporary

art

historian,

taught

at Lahore's National College of Arts for 31 years before working as its principal for four years. Currently dean at the Beaconhouse National University's school of visual arts, she is known to promote a unique intellectual perspective among students, teaching them to appreciate nature, cultural traditions and sacredness of the crafts." She has served as Dean of the School of Visual Arts & Design at the Beaconhouse National University Lahore, Pakistan. Hashmi was also professor and the head of the National College of Arts. She is famous for her quick wit and ability to read and analyses artwork with effortless ease. She is a respected patron of young artists known to have the capacity to make or break a career. Formerly known as "Art-Shart", Rohtas-2 is the gallery set up by Hashmi at her house in Lahore Model Town. In recent years she has been working on developing closer links with India and working towards a unity group. Hashmi is a member of Amnesty International, and Pakistan Peace Initiative to India after 2009 Mumbai Attack. She is also vice-chair person (Punjab) Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. POLITICAL VIEWS Hashmi comes from a socially and politically active family. Her father was the Pakistani writer, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, and her mother, the British-born Alys Faiz was a journalist and peace activist in Pakistan. One of two daughters, Hashmi was always active in the arts, performing in plays before taking on painting professionally.

Salima expressed her frustration at the India and Pakistan nuclear tests by saying, "It would be so much more fruitful if these energies could be used in producing food to eat, providing shelter, freedom from disease and education for all." Hashmi was about eight years old when Faiz Ahmed Faiz was imprisoned for his political views. She remembers visiting him in jail. Later, during the repressive years of General Zia-ulHaq rule, Hashmi's father had to go into self-exile as a result of the harassment he faced by Zia's government. Therefore, Salima grew up in a politically charged atmosphere. AWARDS AND RECOGNITION  Pride of Performance Award by the President of Pakistan in 1999. Paintings Hashmi is one of the most well-known artists of Pakistan. Besides being an accomplished painter, she taught at Pakistan's prestigious National College of Arts (NCA) for about thirty years and served as the principal of NCA for four years. In 1999, she received Pakistan's 'Pride of Performance for Arts' award. She also co-founded Lahore's Rohtas 2 Gallery, an art gallery featuring works of young artists. Salima Hashmi has exhibited her works internationally and she has travelled all over the world and lectured extensively for it. She has organized several international art shows in England, Europe, United States, Australia, Japan and India. Zia period is considered one of Pakistan's most repressive era especially for women, implications of which are still prevalent in society today. Salima's work focuses on the suffering of women in a highly patriarchal society especially under Zia-ul-Haq's. Her paintings usually include abstract figures of women depicting their struggles. They are a reflection of Salima's thoughts and feelings regarding the political and social uncertainties under which people of Pakistan have lived.

Salima deplored the nuclear test conducting by India and Pakistan in 1998. In an interview with Humsafar magazine she talked about her series People Wept at Dawn which she says is in response to the nuclear tests. Salima expressed her frustration at the India and Pakistan nuclear test by saying, "It would be so much more fruitful if these energies could be used in producing food to eat, providing shelter, freedom from disease and education for all." These days Salima Hashmi is focused on mentoring and promoting the works of younger artists. She has curated art exhibitions showcasing works of Pakistani artists both in Pakistan and abroad. She has also been traveling internationally to promote the new art school Beacon House National University which has already attracted students from abroad. Called “The Eye Still Seeks”, Hashmi said that her art told voiceless stories through miniature art brimming with misery and agony. Hashmi, who is also the member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, said that there were stark and powerful reminders her paintings which reminded her of the time when contemporary art in Pakistan was on decline, particularly during the General Ziaul Haq era. Presenting her work, Hashmi referred to the case of a woman called Zainab, who had been subjected to domestic violence by her husband, a cleric. Hasmhi said Zainab had been violated with electric heating rods inflicting severe internal injuries during the Benazir Bhutto tenure. Even though a woman was the prime minister of the country, Hashmi revealed that neither the government nor any of the political parties of the time raised their voices about it. In this regard, Hashmi said that the purpose of her work – a series of poems -- was to explore and probe the mind of the man who had committed such heinous crimes on Zainab.

Hashmi also authored a critically lauded book titled "Unveiling the Visible: Lives and Works of Women Artists of Pakistan" in 2001. In 2006, Hashmi co-authored a book with Indian art historian Yashodhara Dalmia titled 'Memory, Metaphor, Mutations: Contemporary Art of India and Pakistan', published by Oxford University Press. Her latest work, a series of illustrations to accompany English translations of her father's poetry by her husband Shoaib Hashmi, is in process of publication. In art world, Salima Hashmi has moved from being a person to a phenomenon. Art educator, artist, writer and curator are just a few aspects of her personality, which includes other dimensions such as the human rights activist, television actor and supporter of young talent. Despite all these dimensions, for most artists the first encounter or introduction of Salima Hashmi was through their foundation course at the National College of Arts, where she was one of the most important figures in the Fine Arts Department, before she became the Principal of the institution. Salima Hashmi taught drawing to generations of artists at NCA, besides being personally involved in establishing their careers and supporting new voices in our art. During her foundation year drawing course Prof Hashmi introduced multiple ways of looking at reality, and inspired her students to ‘see’ their surroundings and transcribe these on different surfaces with a range of materials and mediums What she guided in her courses on drawing can be glimpsed in her art as well. Although her work has many layers and phases, but the female figure repeatedly appears in her art. Here the woman’s body emerges not as a pictorial subject, but has a symbolic presence. In a similar manner, her book on the female artist, Unveiling the Visible, a

seminal work on the subject, is an attempt to remind how women artists have been significant architects in shaping the art of this country. Salima Hashmi contributed innumerable number of catalogue essays, newspaper and magazines articles on Pakistani art, all part of her efforts to promote art of this country, locally and on international level. In continuation of promoting Pakistani art, she has curated a number of exhibitions, the most notable was Hanging Fire, held from September 10, 2009 to January 3, 2010 at the Asia Society Museum in New York. Through this, a representative show of Pakistani artists, she tried to introduce a different face/phase of Pakistan, that is creative, contemporary and at par with other nations. The huge response to this exhibition was a great success to Pakistani art in general and the recognition of her curatorial genius in particular. Major Contribution in Development of Art and Cultural Institutions In Pakistan, the cultural vacuum has been very debilitating, because culture was never a priority of the State. The rise of conflict and violence in our society is a direct result of the State’s neglect. Rohtas Gallery was an extension of her teaching. People need cultural and community spaces to enrich their sense of being, so Faiz Ghar was initiated as a center of creative activities for the larger public, with Faiz as an axis who belonged to people. If the State was seriously interested in its own identity, then promoting culture should have been its priority. The disconnect has left us floundering and grappling with identity issues, and now we see how certain people are simply killing others in order to impose their version of a cockeyed cultural identity on Pakistani society.

References o https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salima_Hashmi#:~:text=Salima%20Hashmi %20(Urdu%3A%20%D8%B3%D9%84%DB%8C%D9%85%DB%81%20%DB %81%D8%A7%D8%B4%D9%85%DB%8C,of%20National%20College%20of %20Arts.

o https://peoplepill.com/people/salima-hashmi/

o http://artasiapacific.com/Magazine/57/ParadiseFoundLostSalimaHashmi

o https://kazbar.org/jazbah/salima.php

o https://tribune.com.pk/story/1188307/eye-still-seeks-salima-hashmi-reflectscontemporary-art/...