As founder & owner of Majmua The Art Gallery since March 17th 1994, I have tried to bring together various art forms, and make Majmua a burgeoning and momentous forum in Karachi and the art world in Pakistan. Majmua has also served as cultural ambassador to the countries where the shows were taken. In a matter of twelve years it has launched “Art Pakistan,’ a magazine on art, culture and heritage as well as produced a series of programs on art and culture under the same aegis. We intend to continue promoting Pakistani art in various ways.

I am also a filmmaker. The documentary film “Behind the Veil” was a thesis film for my Boston University Masters degree. The documentary intends to highlight the status of women, in a social, political and religious context and profiles women who have contributed their lives to their particular chosen oeuvre. ‘Behind the Veil’ has been shown in Pakistan as well as at the MESA Film Fest in Washington D.C. in 1995. The film won a human rights award in Pakistan in 2001. A fine-arts award was given in 2002 for dedication in the field of art.

Behind the Veil was a film that I started doing in 1991. It was filmed in Pakistan and a little bit in Boston. The movie is about those individuals who have fought against odds in our country to try to bring some semblance of integrity or people who have fought against odds in different fields to achieve something. I sort of paid homage to them and in the process I reflect on my own life and my own experiences and a bit on society. There are scattered images showing you the cultural aspect of Pakistan in between them because I wanted to weave it just like a tapestry and it’s a film that took me a long time because paisay bilkol nahin thay and I started from scratch. It’s 52 minutes in length and angrezi mein hai and it has been shown all over Pakistan.

Majmua is working with other NGO’s in the field of IT and Media education in slums and rural areas of Pakistan. We also take trade delegations abroad and are working with the women chamber of commerce to develop, promote and re-encourage women entrepreneurs and SME’s in Pakistan. Majmua is also involved with conservation work on certain world heritage sites in Pakistan.

Majmua, The Art Gallery

Behind the Veil Film

Mehreen Ilahi