Stories Under the Dust.

Raza Ur Rehman, currently based in Lahore, Pakistan, is a visionary artist with a BFA from the Punjab University College of Art and Design (2004) and an MFA (2015) from the same institution. Raza’s artistic exploration redefines the narratives of South Asia by melding diverse mediums. Such as drawing, painting, sculpture, installation, and photography. Beyond his artistic pursuits, Raza is also an accomplished educator, holding positions as an Associate Professor and Head of Department of Fine Arts. His creativity and dedication have earned him recognition, with his artwork becoming a part of the permanent collection at Ambiance Boutique Art Hotels.

Raza began this body of work during my stay at Swabi (KPK). As he was teaching Fine Arts in Women University Swabi. At that time while researching about the city of Swabi and its culture, Raza discovered that Swabi and its adjacent area has thousand years of history. There are many archeological sites of ancient civilizations like Ajanta, Gandhara, White Huns, Hund, Hindu and Muslim civilizations and other civilizations. He used to visit those sites regularly where he could see the ruins of those civilizations in layers under the ground. Every time those peeped artifacts which were mostly sculptures in excavated sites stunned me and pulled me back in the old times. Where he could feel the sumptuousness and grandeur of those sculptures. Raza always wanted to experience the passion of the creator of those sculptures. After returning to his studio, He tried to recreate those sculptures in many own ways by using the conventional and contemporary methods to feel the fondness of that man who created them, the final result of his artwork was always in layers such as Raza witnessed the sculptures in excavated cites in layers. This process also gives him a chance to interpret the existing concepts of Region, Religion, Cultures, Politics, Histories and Traditions of this region. The most interesting part of this process is to read the forgotten stories of past through artifacts.