Going to Lahore for three weeks in February, but one needs a lifetime to explore its rich history and culture. It was the capital of the Mughal Empire under Akbar and later, like Paris, became home to some of South Asia’s best known writers and intellectuals. They would congregate at Pak Tea House, the birthplace of the Progressive Writers’ Association and its left wing politics. Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Ibn-e-Insha, Ahmed Faraz, Saadat Hasan Manto, Sahir Ludhianvi, Amrita Pritam, Munshi Premchand, Krishan Chander, Ismat Chughtai, Muneer Niazi, Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi, Habib Jalib, Kaifi Azmi, Intezar Hussain, Rajinder Singh Bedi, Ustad Amanat Ali Khan and many more. What would it have been like to live in Lahore in those days.
Watched a beautiful video of NCA by @maliknaveedpgotography:
Different Views of National College of Arts in Lahore
The institute was originally founded in 1876 as the Mayo School of Industrial Arts and was one of the two arts colleges established by the British in British India. It was named in honor of the British Viceroy Lord Mayo. Kipling became the school’s first principal and was also appointed as the first curator of the Lahore Museum which opened the same year in an adjacent building. In 1958, the school was renamed the National College of Arts and Mian Barkat Ali was appointed principal. [The brilliant NYC-based artist Shahzia Sikander is from NCA]
