Musawar Munir displays cultural heritage at Virsa

ISLAMABAD: A three-day exhibition of paintings and photographs by Musawar Munir opened at the Heritage Museum, Lok Virsa on Friday.

Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Syed Sumsam Ali Bukhari was the chief guest at inaugural ceremony of the exhibition, organised by Lok Virsa in collaboration with Passion, an event management company.

Bukhari lauded the effort of the artist to expressing his ideas through paintings. He said Munir’s works mainly focused on the folk life truly reflected in his photographs. There is also an element of hope for Pakistan in his paintings that show the love of the artist for his country, he said, adding, no doubt, there is a lot of talent in Pakistan and the cultural institutions like Lok Virsa and NGOs need to identify and project that talent.

During an interaction with the audience, the minister appreciated the contribution of Lok Virsa as a cultural body dealing with to document, preserve and disseminate the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of Pakistan.

Munir belongs to District Chakwal, the Punjab province. The main themes of his paintings are landscape, international problems and Pakistan’s regional culture. His work is an introduction to cultural heritage. The unique thing about Munir is that he can paint with the exact finesse and precision with his both hands. His students are from Peshawar, Lahore, Rawalpindi and his native village but he never charges them.

His diverse palette includes work on calligraphy, women issues, life in villages and the problems faced by our youth. He has also used roots of trees to make names of Allah and Mohammad.

The exhibition is a fundraiser for Maryam Welfare Organisation, an NGO primarily working for social welfare. The exhibition will continue till March 14 daily from 11am to 6 pm.