The Gulgee Museum opened its doors to a selected gathering of invitees here earlier today. The event was well-attended by art aficionados, the media, and friends and well-wishers of the family. The Museum will be open to the general public from tomorrow.
The evening opened with mingling over refreshments after which a brief formal programme ensued with Hafeez Shaikh, Niilofur Farooq, and Adam Fahy-Majeed speaking in turn, and sharing their views. Bringing up the rear end of the speeches was Amin Gulgee, the senior Gulgee’s son and an artist in his own right, who welcomed all the guests and stated in his speech, “It was my parents’ dream that their home would eventually become a museum.
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I truly hope that I have done justice to that vision. I began the process of turning my parents’ home, where my father lived and showed his work, into a museum, two years ago. I worked with the architect Samina Anjarwalla to reimagine the space and connect it with my adjoining existing Gallery, which will serve as a contemporary art space of the Gulgee Museum.
The Gulgee Museum houses a permanent collection of Gulgee’s paintings, mosaics in lapis lazuli, sketches, and sculptures showcasing the genius of this artist. With over 170 works, the Gulgee Museum’s collection includes work from the 1950s up to the year 2007.”
Assuming the mantel of curator for the museum, Amin Gulgee has divided the collection into 17 sections which are spread over 13 rooms on the museum’s two floors. Each thematic is described in wall text; an accompanying QR code translates the text into Urdu. As Amin explained, “I have tried to tell a story about my father.”
Also included in the museum are archival photographs. Gulgee was a witness to the birth of Pakistan and these images include him showing his work to President Charles de Gaulle of France in the 1960s and Benazir Bhutto in the 1990s, among many others. In addition, there are videos of interviews with Gulgee in which the artist speaks for himself.
Amin Gulgee added, “The goal of the Gulgee Museum is to be an educational tool for the study of this great artist. Eventually, there will be an outreach programme targeting schools and universities of Pakistan to give students free guided tours of Gulgee’s immense trajectory. On the roof of the museum is a space where discursive sessions can be held on topics of culture relevant to Pakistan.”
After the formal part of the evening was over the doors of the grand museum were opened by Amin Gulgee’s sister, Zarmeen Gulgee, for viewing of the sprawling museum by all the guests.
It may be remembered that the important modernist artist of Pakistan boasting a national and international reputation, Gulgee’s career spanned nearly 50 years; his patrons included heads of state and royalty. He also showed in major museums abroad.
