Nutidige pakistansk malerkunst sat i en historisk og kunstnerisk perspektiv. Forfatteren, der er amerikaner har taget doktorgrad i asiatisk kunsthistorie. Emnet for hendes afhandling var den berømte pakistanske maler Muhammad ʻAbdurrahmān Cughtai

'[This book] has originality and insight and throws fresh light on an important aspect of the art world. By letting the categories of artistic production, nationalist identity and subterfuge speak to, inform, and challenge one another, Virginia Whiles has created a rich text which gives both historical depth and contemporary significance on questions of art, commodification and identity.'-Parvathi Raman, Senior Lecturer in Social Anthropology, Department of Anthropology and Sociology, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London --

Taking South Asia as its focus, this wide-ranging collection probes the general reluctance of the cultural anthropology to engage with contemporary visual art and artists, including painting, sculpture, performance art and installation. Through case studies engaged equally in anthropology and visual studies, contributors examine art and artistic production in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal to bring the social and political complexities of artistic practice to the fore. Demonstrating the potential of the visual as a means to understand a society, its values, and its politics, this volume ranges across discourses of anthropology, sociology, biography, memory, art history, and contemporary practices of visual art. Ultimately, Intersections of Contemporary Art, Anthropology and Art History in South Asia simultaneously expands and challenges the disciplinary foci of two fields: it demonstrates to art criticism and art history the necessity of anthropological and sociological methodologies and theories, while at the same time challenging the “iconophobia” of social sciences.

A superb art book of one of the most arresting art movements in the world today Pakistan’s contemporary art scene is arguably the most exciting in South Asia. Wellknown curator, artist and teacher Salima Hashmi gives us a superb overview in this lavishly designed book, which includes interviews with artists such as Rashid Rana and pieces by writers like Kamila Shamsie and Mohsin Hamid.

Modern Art in Pakistan examines interaction of space, tradition, and history to analyse artistic production in Pakistan from the 1950s to recent times. It traces the evolution of modernism in Pakistan and frames it in a global context in the aftermath of Partition. A masterful insight into South Asian art, this book will interest researchers, scholars, and students of South Asian art and art history, and Pakistan in particular. Further, it will be useful to those engaged in the fields of Islamic studies, museum studies, and modern South Asian history.

"As boundaries slowly dissolve and interactive realities become evident, the cultures of India and Pakistan are beginning to draw attention. Recent exchanges have taken place in the realm of music, cinema, and other cultural forms. Moreover, both nations share a heritage of Mughal miniatures, Rajasthani and Pahari art, and are bound together by history and the problematics of the present. The contemporary art of the two countries, in all its vitality, today has a new identity. The illustrated book reveals the heterogenous, complex, and vibrant life of the subcontinent of South Asia that is reflected through both Pakistani and Indian art." "In the first part of the book, Salima Hashmi introduces the art practices of Pakistan, since Partition, and their historical background. She goes on to discuss the subversive work of women artists, who have recently asserted themselves. The section ends with an overview of artists who have blended rather uniquely the miniature tradition with contemporary trends." "The second part by Yashodhara Dalmia, begins with the historical development of art in India from the turn of the twentieth-century to the present. There follows a focus on the Progressive Artists' Group, which leaned heavily towards modernism in the fifties, and remains of paramount importance today."--Jacket.