People still aren’t over the British Royals visit to Pakistan. In fact, the hype is going strong. One digital artist Digink took this opportuity to paint Pakistan’s legendary musicians in imperial colors.
The artist placed Pakistani music giants in imperial British style paintings.
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Even the captions on the art like ‘Abida the First‘ are something out of imperial Europe. The artist had a moment of enlightenment during the Royal visit, spawning this idea.
“During the time the royal family were on their way, I was thinking to myself, ‘How awesome would it be if those paintings in British mansions, those very specific types of paintings, had a Pakistani icon in them.’”
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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s visit to Pakistan inspired plenty of art. Rickshaws in Rawalpindi and Lahore were painted in truck art prior to the Royal Visit.
He was already working on something similar, putting rappers in dabbas. (small roadside rest stop)
“I was messing around with a lot of photo manipulation and putting people in scenarios where they aren’t supposed to be, … That theme already was in the works on my page where I was putting rappers in dabbas, for example, creating scenarios that would never happen in real life.”
Imperial Rulers: Pakistani Artist Edition
So amid all this tinkering with people in scenarios they aren’t supposed to be in, he created four cheeky imperial art pieces, each with an iconic Pakistani legend.
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“I came up with the idea of doing a portrait of Abida Parveen,”
While he initially thought he’d use Abida Parveen’s face, along the way he was contemplating using contemporary musicians like Atif Aslam and Abida Parveen. In the end, he stuck to the classics.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3oj2ZBl7q6/
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It’s hard to believe Digink is a self-taught digital artist. He spiraled into digital art trying out different software while studying abroad in Australia. Most of his art is as cheeky as these paintings. While some love his art others think ‘it’s disrespecting culture‘.
“There is a group of people who relate to my stuff. They love it and want more. Then there is that opposite group that comments like ‘You are disrespecting our culture’ and all that, but I don’t see it that way. In order to progress, we have to be willing to be critical.”
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Contemporary art isn’t about classic brush-strokes as you’d imagine. Most of them are just introducing new things. In that sense, Digink has proven himself as a true visual artist.
via Arab News
