The Origins and Evolution of Contemporary Miniature Painting in Pakistan

In 1982, Bashir Ahmad created the first curriculum in the world for a degree course in Indo-Persian miniature painting. When the British abandoned South Asia in 1947, artists lost royal patronage. Two remaining hereditary court painters left India and accepted teaching posts at the National College of Arts in Lahore, Pakistan. Ahmad—the only student dedicated to the serious study of this art form—underwent a challenging eight-year apprenticeship with two ustads (teachers). Ahmad rescued and perfected age-old techniques verging on the cusp of extinction. He introduced contemporary themes and encouraged his students to innovate as well. In addition to biographies of Ahmad and his two ustads, this book details his apprenticeship and traces the ongoing evolution of the craft by his students, including Shahzia Sikander, Imran Qureshi, Saira Wasim, Wasim Ahmad and Nusra Latif-Qureshi. Ahmad's transformation of the miniatures, as well as student assignments, are included as color illustrations.