NAAP writes to the government over missing or stolen artwork
The National Artists Association of Pakistan (NAAP) wrote to the Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood to bring his attention to the disappearance of gifts, artworks, and souvenirs worth tens of millions of rupees from the Pakistan Arts Council. The artwork was gifted by many artists to the Government of Pakistan.
More than a hundred pieces are reportedly missing or stolen from the National Arts Gallery which is a part of the Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA). It was previously reported that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) was looking into 134 stolen or missing pieces of arts. Some of these paintings are over a hundred years old and are priceless. These include works by Ustad Bashratullah, A.J Shemza, and other renowned painters.
“These valuable treasures have over the years either been gifted to the GOP [Government of Pakistan] or have been acquired by the GoP as part of the ‘Permanent Collection’ housed at the National Art Gallery (established as part of PNCA) located at P-5/1, Islamabad. PNCA however, has been unable to keep this Permanent Collection safe and secure. In the year 2016, it surfaced that artworks worth crores were missing from the Permanent Collection,” the letter states.
“These artworks were invaluable and irreplaceable assets and a part of our cultural heritage and their disappearance due to sheer negligence of PNCA management and staff is a national loss. To date, no concrete action has been taken against the culprits who were involved and responsible for what amounts to outright theft,” the letter further adds.
The loss of artwork is gross negligence on the part of the authorities. It is imperative that a detailed inquiry is held and the artworks are recovered and those responsible face legal proceedings.