10 Stunning Contemporary Art Galleries in Karachi, Pakistan

The Mohatta Palace was built in 1927 as the summer residence of a wealthy businessman who named the palace after himself. The unique design of the building was inspired by the majestic residences of the Rajput clan’s princes, and utilises yellow stones from Gizri, one of Karachi’s neighborhoods, as well as pink stones from Jaipur, India’s Pink City. The palace was then acquired by the Government of Sindh, the region where Karachi is located, in 1995; and it was then established that it would have become a place to celebrate the traditional, decorative arts of Pakistan. But the museum also hosts contemporary art exhibitions: the recently closed show Labyrinth Reflections presented to the public the work of Rashid Rana, a globally acclaimed multimedia artist, arguably the leading Pakistani talent of his generation.

British art critic and journalist Marjorie Hussain moved to Karachi in the early 1960s when she was still an art student. Naturally, she got in touch with the thriving local art community at her arrival, at a time when opportunities to sell artworks were still near to non-existent. But only a few years later, the city’s economic growth did open up an art market, which consolidated during the following decades. Mrs. Hussain opened Chawkandi Art in the 1980s; her deep knowledge of Karachi’s art scene and Pakistani art at large is key to the gallery’s programme of quality exhibitions that position Chawkandi Art among the best contemporary art galleries in the city.

Established in 1987, VM Art Gallery was founded on the experience of a community centre providing education to women. Since then, the gallery has grown to become a reference point for the contemporary art scene in Karachi and the entire country. A non-profit gallery, VM Art’s authentic mission is to promote Pakistani artists in Pakistan as well as around the world through frequent collaborations with international cultural institutions. Particular attention is given to art’s emerging voices and fresh graduates who struggle to enter the art circuit due to a lack of resources or experience. The gallery holds a permanent collection of artworks culled from the exhibitions that have been held here over the years; this comprises over 400 works including paintings, sculptures and ceramics.

The Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture is a prominent school in Karachi for art students, offering programmes in fine art, liberal arts, textile design, architecture, and others. Similarly to many such educational institutions around the world, the school has its own gallery, a natural outlet for the work of students and alumni alike, and a worthwhile opportunity for art enthusiasts to take a look at what might be the future masterpieces of Pakistani art. Here, outsiders as well as students can also enjoy a series of talks, lectures, screenings and other initiatives aimed at promoting a deeper understanding of the arts. The gallery is run by Adeela Suleman, an established artist specialised in the creation of captivating, metal-based sculptures, whose work has been exhibited at many international fairs over the years.

Yet another home for Pakistani art from both emerging and established artists is found at Gandhara-Art Gallery. This is Karachi’s only exhibition space with a regular programme run by Gandhara-Art, a curatorial organisation that has its offices in Hong Kong. The organisation is very active internationally, curating shows of Pakistani artists in several venues across the globe. In the past, they have collaborated with many institutions of other countries, most notably the Hong Kong Arts Center, the Salsali Private Museum in Dubai and, more recently, the Modern Art Museum in Arnhem, Netherlands. Among the many artists whose work it represents, Imran Qureshi, selected as 2013 Artist of the Year by Deutsche Bank, is worthy of mention for his lush, richly detailed miniatures, which he started staining with bloody red paint in recent years, in response to the increasing violence in Pakistan.

Jamil Naqsh is a renowned painter, born in India but raised in Karachi, and now retired in London. The nude female body and pigeons are the two most frequently recurring subjects in Naqsh’s works, a characteristic that has gained him the attention of the international art community, so much so that some of his paintings have been sold by the world’s best auction houses, including Christie’s and Sotheby’s. Momart Gallery was born in 1994 with the blessing of Jamil Naqsh; and Naqsh himself, as well as a number of young artists and his proteges have exhibited their paintings in the gallery – among them is award-winning landscape painter Chitra Pritam.