A shift from the margins towards the centre was evidenced recently when paintings of an early modernist Anwar Jalal Shemza (1928-1985), went on display as part of Tate galleries permanent collection in London.

During its heyday, the Modern Art Movement made claims to being of universal significance, and while it plundered freely from non- European cultures (as Picasso did from African art in Les demoiselles d’Avignon in 1907), it remained in all essentials a strictly Western European phenomenon. The art which was considered truly modernist was produced either in Europe or else (through extension of European cultural hegemony), in the United States. Modernist art from a non-western milieu was regarded in Europe and the United States as coming “from the margins” and thus being scarcely worthy of consideration within the modernist canon.

Amongst the most immediate examples of this discrimination with reference to artists of Pakistani origin is the case of an almost forgotten Master Modernist Anwar Jalal Shemza.

Later generation of Pakistani artists and enthusiasts are largely unaware of Shemza or his art as he relocated to Britain in 1962 and worked and painted there till his death in 1985.

While adhering to the modernist canons of art making, non-western modernists also carried influences of the traditions and histories of their countries of origin. Shemza trained in traditional miniature techniques, calligraphy and formal tessellated pattern making, propagated a modernist, radical approach to painting, creating cubistic cityscapes and still-life in oil on canvas. Preoccupied with the dynamics of form rather than the narration of content, he experimented with modernist and culturally specific motifs together in a layered and complex way.

Incorporating Islamic themes into his work his ‘Meem’ series of the 1960s was based on the first letter of the Prophet Mohammed’s name. His ‘Roots’ series, started in the 1970s, showed imaginary plants and roots with a tughra/calligram conformity, stylisation and interconnectedness to them but the working idiom was so entirely modern, unconventional and personal that the tughra or calligraphy connection was reduced to a distant reference only.

Strongly influenced by Paul Klee, Shemza also drew on Arabic and Persian calligraphy in strongly linear works. Sidelined as a South Asian artist by the critics then, his work did not receive the critical evaluation it merited. The current inclusion in the Tate collection heralds a formal relocation from being an Asian artist in the margins during the ’60s to his rightful place amongst his peers and contemporaries. Here, his wife Mary Shemza answers questions about this new development.

A marginalised Asian artist during his lifetime, Anwar Jalal Shemza’s art is now part of the permanent collection at Tate. Has he found his rightful place amongst his peers and contemporaries?

Shemza’s recognition as a significantly important international artist is improving but has a long way to go. Representative collections of his work should be in all major public galleries around the world. The acquisitions by the Tate in the U.K. are encouraging.

How do you view this new development, does this compensate for the isolation he had to endure throughout his life?

I welcome the new development but it cannot compensate for the relative isolation that he experienced throughout his life as he could not enjoy the appropriate recognition himself.

What, in your opinion, is the reason behind this interest in re-evaluating South Asian artistic presence during the ‘60s—why was it marginalised at that juncture in time but is being considered worthy of examination now?

The relative lack of interest in the ’60s is gradually being replaced due to the global accessibility of IT and the education and mobility of an expanding and more prosperous middle class.

I appreciate the practical hard work that Anita Dawood and Hammad Nasr of Green Cardamom have invested. The scholarship and curatorial work of people such as Reyhann King, Ajaz Anwar, Savita Apte, Iftikhar Dadi and Carmen Julia has also made a significant contribution.

Having seen how migration influences an artist’s work ethos what advice would you give to new generation Diaspora artists?

Art is essentially a language which can be used to express ideas and aesthetics. The new generation of Diaspora artists now have a much more easily accessible and wider visual vocabulary to explore, be influenced by and develop a form of personal expression. A richer visual language can lead to richer visual expression. It can also be more confusing and the resulting work trivial. It depends on the individual to effectively distinguish what is of use to them and what is not and their ability to use it to express themselves.

Are there any forthcoming exhibitions featuring Shemza’s work, which will further elucidate and consolidate his new status?

There is an exhibition this month at the Tate titled, ‘The migrations’, which is curated by a group of Tate curators headed by Lizzie Carey-Thomas (Curator, Contemporary British Art) and includes Shemza’s work. In March, Shemza will be one of three artists Green Cardamom will represent at Art Dubai.

Later this year, in November and December, Shemza will be part of a new exhibition in Green Cardamom’s ongoing ‘Mashq’ project looking at culturally driven ideas of repetition. Green Cardamom is also midway through Shemza in ‘Four takes’ project; the next take to be curated by Slade art historian Amna Malik, is scheduled for early 2013. n