Miss attending art exhibitions and see the works of brilliant artists up close? We do too. But The Lahore Arts Council has taken a commendable initiative.
They have put the visual art collection of Alhamra Art Museum on its website (www.lac.punjab.gov.pk) in a virtual exhibit bringing the masterpieces housed at the Alhamra Cultural Complex Qaddafi Stadium to multitudes of people that can now view them from home while maintaining social distancing required by the current pandemic.
The exhibit includes a total of 326 artworks, including paintings, sculptures, prints and photographs, by 118 masters and internationally renowned artists besides the pieces of contemporary art.
LAC Executive Director Saman Rai said “This step has been taken owing to the Covid-19 pandemic so that art lovers can enjoy these artworks while sitting at home,”
The Alhamra Art Museum was founded in 1996. It used to be known as Permanent Art Gallery before that and hold the masterpieces done by many of the nation’s leading visual artists, including Abdur Rehman Chughtai, Ustad Allah Baksh, Sadequain amongst others.
The Alhamra museum is also the largest place in Punjab to exhibit these artworks for scholars, students, researchers and tourists.
Ms. Rai also commented on the current pandemic, art and the mission of the museum saying “In the view of Covid-19, the LAC’s mission is to deliver education through well-curated virtual tours of the Alhamra Art Museum. The collection of the art museum is for those students who are looking for ways to stay on top of their studies while the schools are closed,” she says, adding that the world’s top museums are also sharing the virtual tours of their collections on social media for the students that are homebound.