The main building, or rather buildings, of the Indus Valley
School of Art and Architecture were transported stone by stone from the
downtown, where they were due to be demolished, to Clifton, part of the endless
Cantonment district that flanks the south-east part of the city of Karachi. It
was the first such removal and reuse of an historical building in South Asia.
So with the sea visible from its upper stories, and
surrounded by 80s era high rise apartment towers, you find a colonial building,
a cupola on one corner.
Where Lahore is known for the red sandstone it shares with
sister city Delhi, Karachi's old buildings are yellow limestone. In the Saddar,
the centre of the old town and main bazaar, the stone is encrusted with paint,
layers of bill posters and a profusion of electrical wiring. Pollution has
turned it grey, and the carved balustrades and terraces are everywhere hidden
by billboards and signs.
But at the school
the surfaces have been cleaned and repaired and meticulously
reinstalled. It is something of a shock after so much cinder block and peeling
paint, or new buildings that would not seem out of place in southern
California, to find something so old, so cared for.
It has of course been modified, and the new interior sinks
well below the original ground level with two large galleries joined by a
central atrium.
The exhibition at the moment is Shahid Sajjad - a sculptor,
patron of the school and highly regarded member of the Pakistan arts
establishment. His staff are in the gallery every day. Polishing the carved
wooden figures, and sweeping away the dust that would cover every surface,
given time.
