Piqued by lack of interest, artist shuts his gallery in Larkana

‘Mother Gal­lery’ founded by a teacher with his life’s earnings in the memory of his beloved mot­her, which served art in Larkana by holding exhibitions for 17 years, was closed down by the founder citing increasing disinterest by people in the field of arts.

The gallery’s founder Riz­wan Umrani who is himself a renowned artist has left his hometown for Karachi along with hundreds of pieces of his work but he has not yet abandoned the building nor rented it out.

Umrani said that he had set up the gallery in the memory of his mother and named it ‘Mother Gallery’ so there was no question of its success or failure or commercial viability.

Mr Umrani, who conver­ted his personal home near Jinnahbagh roundabout into the art gallery in 1999 after retirement as government teacher, said that there were no more such people in Lar­kana who loved and understood art.

He said that he had set up the gallery in the memory of his mother and named it ‘Mother Gallery’ so there was no question of its success or failure or commercial viability. Larkana had turned into ruins and he no longer wanted to live there at the age of 80, he said.

Mr Umrani embarked on an artistic career with the first exhibition in 1962. His second exhibition was inaugurated by then Prime Min­is­ter Benazir Bhutto in 1994 in Islamabad and in 1996, he held another exhibition which was inaugurated by Alys Faiz, wife of revolutionary poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz in Lahore.

Mr Umrani has no formal education in arts and painting but his works are always appreciated by art lovers and experts. According to critics, Mr Umrani’s art shows strong influence of women to which he says his work is inspired by his mother.

Originally published in Dawn, June 6th, 2017