Sharjah Museums Department has announced the opening of "Trajectories: 19th-21st Century Printmaking from India and Pakistan", under the patronage of H.H. Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, at the Sharjah Art Museum.
The exhibition was inaugurated by Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qasimi, Chairman of Sharjah Media Centre and Sharjah Media Corporation, who was given a guided tour by guest co-curators, Dr. Paula Sengupta, artist, academic, art critic and curator based in Calcutta, India, and Camilla H. Chaudhry, a Dubai-based independent curator from Karachi, Pakistan.
They were accompanied by Manal Ataya, Director-General of SMD, and Hisham Al Madhloum, Director of the Art Directorate at the Department of Culture and Information in Sharjah.
A diverse crowd made up of the emirates' avid art enthusiasts, writers, scholars, and members of the South Asian community all came together to view the exhibition.
The opening marked a historic moment, as "Trajectories" is the first exhibition to present printmaking from India and Pakistan at a cultural institution in the Middle East.
In total, 157 rare and noteworthy prints from around 50 artists are on display at the show, which aims to introduce a U.A.E. audience to the sub-continent's major printmaking schools and movements, while also providing a bridge for discussion and dialogue regarding the multifaceted relationship between India and Pakistan.
Commenting upon the success of the opening, Manal Ataya said, "Trajectories presents some of the finest achievements in the arts of South Asia, whose cultural legacy, and above all whose people, have long contributed in many different ways to life in the U.A.E. The show is an homage to them to be sure, but at the same time, it acts as an invitation to all our visitors to engage with artworks that combine a commitment to South Asian art traditions with the claim to a contemporary voice that is universal and speaks to everyone irrespective of cultural or religious background." The exhibition is set to run until 20th November and admission is open to the general public and free of charge.
Source: WAM