AAN Foundation collaborated with Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) to introduce the first long-term loan of art from a private collection to an institution in Pakistan at a formal ceremony held at the Suleman Dawood School of Business (SDSB) on Saturday, November 11, 2017. Under this initiative called, ‘AAN Collection at LUMS’, 17 works from the AAN collection were handed over to LUMS for public display at SDSB for a period of 12 months. The works include works from modern masters like Sadequain, Gulgee and Jamil Naqsh as well as contemporary artists including Imran Qureshi, Aisha Khalid, Naiza Khan, Faiza Butt and Muhammad Zeeshan.
The ceremony began with a grand welcome of the guests by Vice Chancellor LUMS, Prof. Dr. S. Sohail H. Naqvi followed by a welcome note by him. “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,” commented Dr. Naqvi.
He further elaborated that LUMS is a space where great ideas are expressed and that the LUMS Fine Arts Society will now take ownership of the collection on display and bring in more art exhibitions to the University. He talked about how he was reminded of the Laws of the State of Mexico that stipulate that two percent of the building cost of any new building has to be put into art and art spaces since a thing of beauty is a joy forever.
Later on, Amna Naqvi, Co-founder of AAN Foundation and Trustee of the AAN Collection took the stage and elaborated on the collection and the AAN Foundation. She 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 homogenization and we felt that there were ideas, philosophies, voices and opinions that needed to be discovered and explored. If one work of art, has sparked one idea, in one student at LUMS, then I believe the engagement of art here will have served its purpose.” The ceremony concluded by Amna presenting to Dr. Naqvi a published collection of Rashid Rana's art work in the form of a book.
While talking to the guests, Ali Naqvi, the co-founder of AAN Foundation and Trustee of the AAN Collection said at the occasion, “We are delighted to collaborate with LUMS on this project and to share works from the AAN Collection with the public. Works from the 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”.
The guests who ranged from Ms. Salima Hashmi to Rector LUMS Abdul Razzak Dawood to Pro-Chancellor Syed Babar Ali to members of the Managing Committee to senior faculty and several notable people from the art circle thoroughly appreciated the collection on display. Believed to be the largest and most comprehensive collection of Pakistan visual art to date, the AAN collection itself is a private collection of Asian art primarily focused 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.
