Why cancel my exhibition, asks Pakistani artist

Over the past two years, renowned artist from Pakistan, Shahid Rassam, has been working on a project of painting Ghalib and Gulzar’s poetry. The exhibition of his works, titled Ghalib and Gulzar, was supposed to be inaugurated on February 20, at the Victoria Hall Museum (VHM) in Kolkata. Gulzar, along with Governor Kesari Nath Tripathi, were supposed to grace the occasion as the chief guests. However, the exhibition was called off at the last minute, which has understandably disgruntled the artist.

Shahid had met Gulzar two years ago in Mumbai when they had discussed about the whole project. The artist says that it is the first time that Gulzar’s poetry has found expression on canvas.

“These are my works in which I have paid tribute to Ghalib and Gulzar saab. He had attended the Mumbai launch of the exhibition and he had even come to Karachi for the same. Gulzar saab was to be my guest this time too, and he had never clearly told me that he wouldn’t be coming. But him not being able to make it shouldn’t result in the entire exhibition being cancelled. This was a friendly gesture between both countries and art is above religion and law. This has not only upset me, it has left a bitter taste overall.”

Shahid Rassam’s paintings

When we contacted Gulzar wasn’t keen on elaborating on the matter. He said, “I don’t want to comment on anything. What happened is unfortunate and sad. Shahid is a good painter.”

The artist was in touch with the museum authorities at Victoria Hall for the past one year. He came to India two weeks ago and reached Kolkata two days before the exhibition.

When we asked Dr Jayanta Sengupta, director-in-charge of Indian Museum and curator of VHM about the reason behind the exhibition getting cancelled, he said, “We were doing it because Gulzar was the star attraction. That is why we had convinced the Governor also to come and inaugurate the nine-day exhibition. But Shahid Rassam informed us at the last minute that Gulzar would not be able to make it. We had made alternate arrangements, but when we found out that he was never supposed to come, we had to cancel the exhibition.”

Shahid Rassam’s paintings

So, did they only agree to host the exhibition because Gulzar would be the chief guest? “Gulzar was the main reason yes, but the paintings were also interesting. There was a lot of miscommunication. This has got nothing to do with the nationality of the artist, it has to do with criminal fraudulence.”

Denying the museum’s allegations, the artist says, “I don’t want to make a big issue out of it but the whole episode has been very upsetting, I was in talks with VHM since last year and still they cancelled it at the last minute. It takes a lot of effort to get all the artwork from one country to another. If they were only interested in Gulzar saab, then they could have invited him to some other event. Why cancel my exhibition?” The artist has returned to Pakistan, but his paintings are still with VHM.