Lahore - The AAN Foundation on Saturday joined hands with the Lahore University of Management Sciences (Lums) to introduce the first long-term loan of art from a private collection to an institution in Pakistan.
A ceremony in this regard was held at a ceremony at the Suleman Dawood School of Business. Under the initiative titled ‘AAN Collection at Lums’, 17 works from AAN collection were handed over to the university to be displayed at Suleman Dawood School of Business for a year.
The works of modern masters like Sadequain, Gulgee and Jamil Naqsh and pieces of contemporary artists Imran Qureshi, Aisha Khalid, Naiza Khan, Faiza Butt and Muhammad Zeeshan are being displayed.
The ceremony began with a warm welcome to guests by Lums Vice Chancellor Prof Dr S Sohail H Naqvi. “I am delighted at this partnership between Lums and its accomplished Alumni Amna and Ali Naqvi who are bringing selected artworks from the AAN collection to the university and allowing the entire Lums family to benefit from it over an extended period of time,” Naqvi said.
Later, Ali and Amna Naqvi, co-founders of AAN Foundation and Trustees of AAN Collection, took to the stage and explained the joint venture.
Ali said, “We are delighted to collaborate with Lums on this project and to share works from AAN Collection with public. Works from AAN Collection have been shown extensively in prestigious institutions internationally and we are pleased that we are introducing this tradition in Pakistan, partnering with an educational institution as significant and as respected as Lums.”
Amna said, “Culture defines who we are and if that is not shared, disseminated and hence preserved, it can get lost. Art and culture always fall prey to rampant homogenisation and we felt that there were ideas, philosophies, voices and opinions that needed to be discovered and explored.”
Believed to be the largest and most comprehensive collection of Pakistani visual art, the AAN collection itself is a private collection of Asian art primarily focusing on Pakistani modern and contemporary art. The collection consists of works ranging from 3rd Century Gandhara sculptures to works of art by contemporary artists.
Through this project, AAN Foundation has brought the global practice of providing on loan, works of art from significant collections to the public through collaboration with large and prestigious institutions such as Lums.