Zahoor ul Akhlaq

Zahoor ul Akhlaq was a Pakistani artist who synthesized the actual and the remote in his practice, engaging with tradition and identity. He was born in 1941 in Delhi, India, and moved to Pakistan with his family after the partition in 1947. He studied art at the National College of Arts in Lahore, where he was influenced by Shakir Ali, a modernist painter and teacher. He also studied at the Hornsey College of Art and the Royal College of Art in London, where he was exposed to various contemporary movements and styles. He returned to Pakistan and taught at the National College of Arts, where he mentored many young artists. He experimented with different media and techniques, such as painting, sculpture, design, and architecture. He also explored various themes and sources, such as Mughal miniature painting, calligraphy, vernacular architecture, Sufism, and music. He created a dialogue between modernist abstraction and traditional forms and practices, and challenged the boundaries of art and culture. He was widely regarded as an authority on art in Pakistan and received many awards and honors, including the President's Pride of Performance in 1993. He was also a Fulbright scholar and a visiting professor at Yale University. He died in 1999 at the age of 57, when he and his elder daughter, Jahanara, were shot dead by a visitor at their home in Lahore.