A Gift of the Muse

The gifts of the muses — poetry, art and music — have always been the very substance of the cultural continuity that establishes the social identity of any community. It is through these three gifts of the muses that any society achieves self-realisation, for in them are distilled, in a condensed form, the memories of the past. And thus they come to contain the essence of yet another gift of the muse, namely that of history, echoing and reflecting the past in vivid cultural forms that are meaningful in the present. It is precisely from such a cultural legacy of a historic past that the genius of a nation and extraordinary talent derive their emotional, intellectual and intuitive inspiration.

The paintings of Laila Shahzada, a remarkably talented artist of Pakistan, reflect beautifully the cultural continuity and colourful contrasts of a civilization that has been in existence, almost without break, for at least the last 5,000 years. The artistic strokes of her magic brush revive powerfully yet beautifully the memories and images of a long dead past. On these canvases one sees emerging, so very clearly and palpably, the faded memories of Moenjodaro, Harappa and Taxila, in uncommon composition and delightful colours.

Of Laila's larger canvases, perhaps the three most remarkable are: "Jewels of Buddha", "Echo from the Past" and the "Unicorn" relating to Mohenjodaro. Equally extraordinary are the "Mother Goddess", "Call From Beyond" and "Echo of the Past". And no less exceptional than the rest in capturing the beholders imagination is a canvas, with dominating blues, depicting the six-square-mile necropolis probably the largest in the East—on the Makli Hill at Thatta.

It is most appropriate that such creative visual composition of colours and forms should have attracted the attention of the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation, an organization not only geared to the commercial needs of tourism but also to the cultural ones of projecting the country's image in the international world. The Corporation is, therefore, very pleased to extend its fullest cooperation in arranging the exhibition of Laila Shahzada's paintings.

Promotion Department, Pakistan Tourist Development Corporation