The development of art in Karachi reminds one of Lucretius—who breaks off from his description of the nature of things to praise Epicurus, the father of his philosophy, the discoverer of truth, who had parted the walls of the world asunder, so that we might see all things moving through the void.

In the last 62 years this is precisely what has happened in Karachi. All kinds of compositions, themes, styles, phases and modes have moved through the void. After 1947 art has been largely Epicurean. No longer drenched by dark references of a bygone colonial era, it forked out into all kinds of directions—representational, figurative, impressionist and abstract, influenced among others by the European masters Raphael, Vermeer and Picasso.

One of the early art schools that this reviewer came across in Karachi was the one in Mehmoodabad started by Sheikh Ahmed after he had been divorced by Anna Molka, the fiery Polish Brit who stayed on in Lahore in the Fine Arts department of the Punjab University.

Also in Mehmoodabad, he came across Aftab Zafar, the unsung hero who astonished his students by his versatility. He displayed an instinctive feel for the folksy idiom of Pakistani culture, and his illustrations were highly colourful. There was, in fact, a time when a huge number of calendars, diaries and greeting cards bore the imprint of his talent.

If one were to chalk up a list of art schools that still exist in Karachi, the names that immediately spring to mind are The Karachi School of Art, the Visual Arts Department of Karachi University, The Central Institute of Arts and Crafts, and the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture.

There are a few others listed here in abbreviated form like the Sadequain School, Alishah Art Valley, North City, Studio Arts, Pakistan Art Institute, Bhattai School, Mashkoor Art School, Vijdan School, Studio Arts, PACC and the VM Rangoonwala Centre where Hanif Shahzad holds classes twice a week. However, it is only the IVS and the Visual Arts department of Karachi University that awards degrees, while KSA, the Sadequain School, North City and the Central Institute that issue diplomas.

The KSA is a private institution founded in 1964 by Rabia Zuberi at a time when there was lack of awareness among people about the many opportunities the industry had to offer. It happens to be the first centre of art education in the city. It is a spacious, well-run and well-managed institute and takes pride in producing a number of eminent artists.

The list is quite long but reviewers, collectors and students would recognise the following bright bulbs in the ferry lights—Lubna Agha, Sumbul Nazir, Mashkoor Raza, Nahid Afridi, Riffat Alvi (who is now the curator of the VM Rangoonwala art gallery ) and Anjum Ayaz the sculptor. Further more, their is a whole string of artists who distinguished themselves in water colours—Athar Jamal, Amer Mehtab, Najam Pirzada, Taufiq Ahmed, Abdul Hayee, Ghalib Baqar and Zaheer Ahmed. One must also add the name of a bright young painter named Babar Mughal who recently has been making waves, and designers like Abdul Hafeez, Mubarrik Ali, Anwer Jafri and Danish Raza who have brought honour to their institute.

The other highly professional institute that has also brought a touch of sophistication and formalised the teaching of art is the well-designed, bright and airy Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture. This reviewer spoke to Adila Suleman, co-coordinator of the art department, and a graduate of the same institution, and asked her whether the instructors tried to influence or persuade students into accepting a particular style in art. He learnt that after absorbing the basics the students were encouraged to pursue the genre and medium in which they were comfortable.

While there has been a recent drought in exhibitions and also a decline in sales, it is business as usual in the different art schools, each of which is making its contribution, however small, in adding a little colour to this blighted city. Who knows, one day one of the lesser known institutes might just throw up another Ustad Allah Bux or Zahoorul Akhlaque, and then it would certainly be worth it.