The Expression of Self-Awareness in Pakistani Paintings: Hegelian Perspective (1947- 1977)

Abstract

A lot has been produced about the history of fine art in Pakistan but there is no academic literature exploring the historic development and evolution in the country’s fine art mainly from the aspect of self-expression. This study tries to inquire transition of the history of art in Pakistan between 1947 to 1977. During all this period of development the  transition from one kind of self-awareness to another is going on. The study uses theoretical paradigms that explore the development of self-consciousness in art in the ‘End of Art’ thesis proposed by Hegel and developed by Theodore Adorno. This model is used in the current study to figure out if there is a development in Pakistani art purely in terms of the degree of self-awareness. This objective is worth pursuing as history, especially History of Art, can be seen as a development of an ever-expanding and enlarging perimeter of consciousness. Development and cultivation of the mental abilities of intellect and imagination, two important fountains of human development, are more important than anything else. This paper is an attempt to look at the history of Pakistani painting as an evolving expression of Self-awareness. The study maintains that the peculiar circumstances of the Partition necessitated a search for a new cultural and national identity and therefore the first few decades of art in Pakistan (1947-1977) were devoted to consolidating self-awareness which contributed directly or indirectly to a national identity formation as well.