Written by: Haroon Shuaib
Posted on: June 14, 2021 | 
A Painting from 'Himalayan Odyssey
To say that Raja Changez Sultan has many dimensions to his personality would be an understatement. The man is an artist who creates images that transcend the boundaries of what one may have seen or experienced, but feel as real and tangible as objects. He is a prolific poet whose way with words is natural and yet erudite. He has also served as Director General at Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) and former Deputy Managing Director at Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC).
A Painting by Raja Changez Sultan
Changez started painting 1967. He did his Masters in Fine Arts and another Masters in Communications and Writing from Columbia University; worked for the United Nations for some time before returning to Pakistan to serve the government, mostly in the tourism sector.
Talking about his unique style of painting, Raja Changez Sultan elaborated, “As an artist once you have a theme or a certain area defined, then you put in all your efforts in discovering the various dimensions within it. If you look at my ‘Himalayan Odyssey’ series, it is the four elements i.e. earth, air, fire and water that you come across in our mountainous landscapes. The entire perspective, time, distance, play of light, and the way these elements behave is different. Another series of mine, ‘The Divided Self’, is based on the fact that each one of us have so many personalities living inside us; there is always a force that pushes us forward and one that holds us back, a third that makes us more reflective, and a fourth that makes us aggressive.”
A Painting from the 'Divided Self' series
It is precisely this profound way of looking at both the internal and external world that leads Changez to break down his subjects to their basic elements, and experiment with their features. “That is the best part about painting. No matter how much somebody wants to copy you, it is very difficult to truly replicate someone. No two painters look at a subject the same way and put it on the canvas with the same results,” he reflects.
In Changez’s paintings, there is always a haze either absorbing the subjects or spitting them out. He explained his intrigue with these shadows, saying, “Eastern art is largely two dimensional. For Muslims in particular, whether it is Persian art or art that originates from Middle East going as far as Tunisia, two dimensional aspects filter into a control and mastery into line. We can see that very clearly in calligraphy and even in Mughal art. The other way is setting up a field of color and then with the force of mind, paint an image on the canvas. The result is softer as the elements and colors blend into each other.”
Female Figures Frequently Feature in Raja Changez Sultan's Paintings
It is this kind of reverential progression that he patiently lends to each canvas. “You would very rarely find an absolute straight line in nature. The line is always an assumed element; everything has a three dimensional form with either a roundness or a curvature. That supports a more amorphous kind of imagery. Normally, I tell people that there is always a haze in my paintings because I can’t see very clearly, but that is not the case,” he adds with a laugh.
Talking about the way art has evolved in modern times, Changez reminisces, “Ever since the advent of computers and graphic design, printography, and what people can do with computer based printmaking, art has become too close to craft. Modern artists prefer installations, design elements and shock value. Commercialization has had a very detrimental effect on what we might want to preserve as our legacy. You have a media industry that can at best be defined as a mere involvement. Kids are being taught everything on the computers, and are able to learn the same things anywhere in the world. All this will contribute towards a world culture, but if you talk about the national identity, then that is not what the future is likely to afford us.” He does however merit technology for opening the world to today’s artists. “You can be the worst artist on earth, and then you open the internet and conclude that while you thought you were the worst, you are not.”
Raja Changez Sultan as a Young Man
Changez looks at his time at the PNCA with great fondness, and his contribution in promoting art and culture despite the bureaucratic hurdles. When asked about how he defines Pakistan’s culture, he takes a pragmatic approach, “In Pakistan, we have multiple cultures that were divided since ancient times by a river, a mountain range and a desert. People on one side would speak one language, while people on the other side spoke another. You had approximately 4000 cultures living between Kabul and Dhaka, so Pakistan’s culture is a composite of many cultures. In the 80’s, a state level initiative was started. It was proposed that student groups from different provinces have interprovincial cross overs to get to know each other, but 220 million people are not going to move up and down unless travel becomes easy,” he explains.
After almost 25 years in the tourism ministry, he reflected on the strengths and challenges of Pakistan as a tourism destination, “A major share of the international tourists stopped after the Iranian revolution, as 52 percent of them came to Pakistan over land. Subsequently, since there was trouble in the Middle East and Afghanistan, every major crisis had some bearing on travel to Pakistan. However, we have the most refined adventure tourism base that any country could ever offer, with the Karakoram, Himalaya, Suleman Range, and Hindukush as treasure troves of adventure. With old civilizations such as Gandhara, Mohenjodaro and Harappa, we have a tourism product that can be easily packaged. In Balochistan, which is the largest province of Pakistan, the product is phenomenal but the tourism is limited due to security issues. Where Sindh is concerned, the civilizational wealth is immense. There were historians in 17th and 18th century who visited Thatta and Hyderabad and thought that these cities were better laid out and cleaner than London. All we need is a peaceful existence,” he says.
For Raja Changez Sultan, the hope lies with the youth of the Pakistan. “I believe we have a huge amount of quality intellect in our youth in ambition and daring. The people of this region are amongst the most gifted that you will find anywhere in this world. I do see very good things happening here in future.” For Raja Changez Sultan, this positivity and optimism is essential to love. He was 19 when he decided that life was going to be comprised of 10 paintings and 10 poems, so he happily continues to paint and write, for good things are yet to come.
Raja Changez Sultan Now
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