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LAHORE, Mar 25 (APP):Punjab University Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Ali on Tuesday inaugurated Pakistan’s first-ever exhibition on artistic book-binding of rare manuscripts.
The exhibition titled ‘Tajdeed-e-Naqoosh’ is a revival of artistic bookbinding and illumination. In a pioneering effort, PU has hosted Pakistan’s first exhibition of its kind, where an academic institution and its institutional library have showcased artistic bookbinding from its extensive manuscript collection.
The event was jointly organized by Punjab University Department of Fine Arts and Main Library here on Tuesday. On this occasion, Department of Fine Arts Chairperson and curator Prof Dr Sumera Jawad, Chief Librarian Dr Muhammad Haroon Usmani, curator Amina Cheema, faculty members, artists and students were present.
In his address, PU VC Dr Muhammad Ali commended the efforts of curators Amina Cheema, Dr Sumera and Dr Haroon for their dedication to this significant endeavor. He said that our students should know how books were preserved in the past.
Amina Cheema said that this exhibition not only addresses the historical invisibility of artistic bookbinding and illumination but also raises critical questions regarding typology, contextualization, display methodologies, and the complexities of metadata associated with each artifact. She said that it marks a crucial step in advancing scholarly engagement with these overlooked domains, fostering further research and appreciation of Islamic and regional book arts. Bookbinding and illumination, integral to the Islamic arts of the book, have historically remained underrepresented in local scholarship and the broader art scene.
Tajdeed-e-Naqoosh is a collaborative initiative dedicated to the revival of these traditional and regional art forms, seeking to bring them into academic and artistic discourse.