Honoring art and altruism4

"Peace will come when individuals realize this for themselves in their own hearts. Speeches and words can only go so far. Change comes only through action.”

Artist and humanitarian Jimmy Engineer was responding to the felicitation he received from Jehangir Karamat, Pakistan’s ambassador to the USA. The painter and peace activist who has a string of honors to his name, was acknowledging the latest high point in his career as his many admirers thronged the auditorium of the Embassy of Pakistan in Washington DC on March 22, 2005, notes a report in Hamazor forwarded by Behram Pastakia.

Introducing the man whose imagery of the horrendous partition of India has won encomiums and who has recycled his earnings to generate discourse and dialog as the pathway to knotty international problems, Prof Akbar S. Ahmed of the American University in Washington DC reminded the audience of a picture of Mogul Emperor Jehangir gazing lovingly at a portrait of the Madonna as an emblem of religious tolerance.

(Above) and his impression of the Gulf War

Born in Loralai, Baluchistan in 1954, Engineer schooled at St. Anthony’s in Lahore, breezed through the Forman Christian College and spent three years at the National College of Arts. 1976 marked his debut as a professional painter but his calling went beyond the scenes of depredation to the subjects. "The minute details, the layered imagery and the fine lines illustrating the transition of humans into tragic victims equal the skill applied by the Great Masters,” notes a eulogy on the web.

But Engineer’s skill with brush and paint are rivaled by his words and voice. Inspiring the young to dedicate themselves to their country, Engineer’s speaking engagements as well as his canvases depict the toil of Muslims building up their country since independence in 1947. Among the many awards that have come his way are the gold medal of the International Cosmopolitan Rotary Club of Pakistan in 1997, the medal of the Human Rights Society of Pakistan in 2000, the lifetime achievement awards for humanitarian service by the Karachi Welfare Citizens’ Organization as well as the Waqar-e-Adab literary association, both in 2002. The latter organization again presented Engineer with an award ‘In the name of Allah’ in 2003, notes the website www.jimmyengineer. com