Then Mr Pasha addressed the audience. He said over the years Lahore was thought of as the centre of art and culture, but since the s Karachi has come up far ahead of Lahore. The Mohatta Palace is one of those institutions. We have about artworks in the gallery. Indians are still looking at the west but Pakistan art โ with the likes of Zahoorul Akhlaq, Shazia Sikandar, Rashid Rana and Imran Qureshi โ has blossomed as something totally different from what it used to be.
Mr Pasha went down memory lane to tell the receptive attendees about the genesis of the National Art Gallery. He said in the s, the first competition was arranged [for the gallery] by the Pakistan National Council of the Arts in which five architects, including his firm, were invited. One of them won. For 10 years nothing happened.
Therefore, another competition was held and the same five firms were asked to submit. He said the real trouble started afterwards. He took over the site [for the gallery]. The architect said subsequently Nawaz Sharif went and Benazir came back. Designs were shown to Khwaja Shahid Husain. Mr Husain asked about the site and finally settled on one [where now the gallery is situated]. He said in the foundation for the building was laid and the project started slowly. When Gen Musharraf was attacked twice going from the presidency to GHQ he started flying by helicopter to his office.
He inquired about it. Upon knowing what it was, it was decided to demolish the structure. I came back to my office. We had a small model. We took the model and my friend filmed making it look as if it was being watched from the helicopter. I also took photos of the grey structure and juxtaposed it with the model from the same angle.
He asked me how soon I could finish the project. To get the money, we answered in a year. We started working on the project from onwards. In , we finished the building and it was inaugurated. This book tells that story of 27 years. Mr Haroon put a question to Ms Gannon about the period when she was reporting on Afghanistan.
