Fiasco in Oslo

NOVEMBER 2002 - The subject of Pakistan’s deteriorating image abroad has been a cause for much anguish for many Pakistanis who genuinely feel for the country and find themselves powerless to make even a small change. Various governments have funded harebrained projects designed to remove misconceptions and raise our image to a new level, but these have all failed miserably. Image itself is an abstract thing and cannot be quantified. Unless objectives are honestly and clearly defined, end results are predictable and large sums of money get squandered with the elusive image remaining vague and indistinct.

Some years back, the Smithsonian Museum selected the Shalimar Gardens at Lahore to showcase the garden’s beauty and grace in an international class film that was to be shown around the world. This was in 1996 a year before Pakistan’s 50th anniversary. The Smithsonian is as high as you can get. Any government would have fallen over itself to secure the sponsorship and extend all the help it could but for over two years, people traveled from the US at their own expense to convince the government – and when that failed, the private sector to partially fund the project. No one was remotely interested. The Americans were flabbergasted and continued to knock at many doors – Shahbaz Sharif, the great Mian himself, even Hussain Nawaz and finally Mushahid Hussain. All promised the moon and delivered zilch. Heartbroken, the sponsors withdrew the offer. In contrast, when they made the same offer to India, there was a flood of sponsors and since the Smithsonian can only take three, many were turned down. In Pakistan there wasn’t even one. The film cameraman who had taken slides as part of his project assembled a show out of these and ran it to packed and enthusiastic crowds in USA where it was truly appreciated. Of course the same government or even private sponsors will throw tons of money on useless and frivolous projects such as special supplements on Pakistan, which have been a favourite with Islamabad since forever.

On the rare occasions when we have the opportunity to project Pakistan positively, we end up making a complete mess because almost always the officials involved are motivated by personal ambition and lack of vision. The result is more mud on our faces. Raja Changez Sultan and the PNCA of which he is the numero uno led Pakistan into another disaster this summer at Oslo, Norway. As a curtain raiser to the Mela 2002 festival from Pakistan that featured over 110 artists, musicians, painters, actors, dancers and poets who all performed in September in Oslo, Norway’s prestigious gallery, Kunstnernes Hus, hosted an exhibition of contemporary art. The organizers had to convince the gallery to host this event because it would dispel many stereotyped notions about our art scene and present a vibrant and creative side to the Europeans. Since the entire funding for such an important event was beyond the scope of the organizers, the government was approached to partially fund the collection and its transportation to Oslo. A veteran curator, Mr. Rashid Araeen living in UK compiled the list of paintings to go to Oslo and Salima Hashmi finalized the list. PNCA was informed that it could include some work from the National Gallery in Islamabad but by and large, to stick to the list. A meeting took place in March with PNCA which showed its customary speed and simply sat on everything till the organizers had to move the Ministry of Culture to push the PNCA. By this time it was July and three precious months had been wasted. The PNCA still refused to move its butt till it had ‘proof’ that funds had been transferred to its account, which had been done weeks before except that PNCA hadn’t bothered to check. The organizers had run into the wall of bureaucratic indifference that is the hallmark of organizations like the PNCA. Worse was to follow.

Thereafter, Raja Changez Sultan made major alterations in the exhibition material to be sent. Out of the recommended list of 20 recognised artists like Chugtai, Shakir Ali, Sadequain, Meher Afroze, and Summaya Durrani, only 5 made it to Oslo. Raja Sahib handpicked the rest. The bulk of the exhibition now featured the work of Raja Changez Sultan, his daughter and his office assistant. None of the three were on the original list! The gallery at Oslo of course had no idea what lay in store for them. When Raja Sahib arrived in Oslo on 7 August information reached the organizers that the exhibition had been taken off the aircraft at Lahore and instead crates of mangoes had been loaded on. After frantic efforts and expenses of thousands of kroners, the exhibition was flown to London and thereafter, following more hectic efforts, to Oslo. It arrived a few hours before the opening on 9 August. Of course, Raja Sahib sat and cooled his heels while the organizers fought with rising panic. The director of the gallery was so distraught that she had planned to resign rather than face the humiliation of a no-show exhibition. When Another Journey as it was called, finally opened, it was greeted with derision and contempt. The quality of the work was so pathetic that a leading art critic writing in Aftenposen, Norway's leading newspaper, said, “The exhibition is a catastrophe, both for the artists who are represented in the exhibition as well as for the gallery. It cannot get worse.” For the organisers, this was a nightmarish start to its two-year campaign and hard work to make the Mela a reality. The critics had plenty to say about the quality of the art exhibits and understandably, Pakistan’s name, whatever is left of it, was further down graded. The manner in which the PNCA demonstrated its reckless approach to an international event and clear favouritism and self-projection is lamentable. Who authorized Raja Sahib to play ducks and drakes and push his own mediocre landscapes is a question that he alone can answer. The Minister for Culture & Tourism is well aware of the embarrassment that this show created but has not seen it fit to take any action. As for the Norwegians, they have serious reservations about our artistic capabilities and it was only the high quality work that came to them later from NCA that saved us further blushes. This 40 piece art exhibition tracing the history of the miniature form of painting had no ugly surprises because it was handled professionally and comprised the work of deserving artists. Of course, this being Pakistan, Raja Sahib won't have to offer any explanation. In fact, he may well rise further in his career as the caretaker of all things artistic.

There are dozens of cases where the same selfishness and gross indifference to national causes has played havoc with our image abroad. Countries, which are determined to move forward, put aside personal agendas and do what brings recognition and honour to their land. We have much to show the rest of the world and start establishing that we are not all terrorists or fundos, but that some of the finest arts, crafts and their practitioners live and work here. Unfortunately the government will always be involved in such initiatives and with that will come red tape, lack of interest and commitment, but with just a little effort, we can actually project an image that will sustain us when the chips are really down. It won’t come from the likes of Raja Changez Sultan though.