Bagh-i-Sadia, artist Usman Saeed’s garden in his family home in Lahore, was recently the venue for a solo show of his artworks titled Gardenfinds Two.

Intricate studies of the flora and fauna delighted the visitors’ senses as the art was viewed at its source. This was an immersive experience, amid the magical scent from the trees and bird songs in Saeed’s most private space and studio, his garden.

The original layout for Bagh-i-Sadia was conceived 20 years ago, when the family moved here. Saeed recalls that the orchard began when his father, Saeed Akhtar had made sure of planting citruses such as lemon, malta and mosambi (family of orange), first, followed by beri (whortleberry) amrood (guava) and khajoor (date). He says, “By the time, the shehtoots and jamuns were planted around 2015, I had started gardening regularly, adding herbs, shrubs, veggies and fragrant flowering plants.”

This is a world in which Saeed has found the beauty of the universe. As a true student of nature, and after that of art, he is particular in acknowledging those who provided support or led the way for him to this level of appreciation of its abundance. Feeding the birds on the balcony, which his sister-in-law started, is now integrated as a regular habit in his garden.

The artist likes to think that his late mother’s calm spirit resides in every goodness in the garden in her name. It is with this love and dedication that the artist visualises drawings while absorbing bird sounds, and paints some of the most stunning imagery of blood red tulips, the most mystical blue irises and his beloved roses.

The rose is his old friend, introduced through his studies at Noor Jehan’s tomb. In an early work, ‘Rosewater’, he dips the paper in rosewater, and embellishes it with a many-point flower-like emblem in gold colour. He makes the connection to another realm, quoting Anne Marie Schimmel’s essay, The Celestial Garden in Islam, which references Allama Iqbal’s poem Baab-i-Gul.

“In the timeless realms of paradise, she wanted to know how the tides of time work and to find what ‘yesterday’ and ‘tomorrow’ are; she descended on to a rose bough, opened with a smile, and withered; her last sigh remained in the garden and was called fragrance.”

Usman Saeed’s turns his home garden into a complex spot for exhibition and discovery

In the current show, the rose alludes to the poem, ‘Gul-i-Rangeen’ by Iqbal: “…you have a hundred tongues, still you remain silent.” Painted as if holding his breath, the rose appears as if it has grown out of the pulp of the paper.

The flaming red of poppies in Bagh-i-Sadia is unmatched, as are the tulips, compiled in digital photographs with an edition of 12. In the walk through, there are flowerbeds of the Martegon lilly (that has appeared in Mughal miniature), red amber, gladiolas, Turkish crown imperial lilly, etc. The fortunate visitors got to view the beautiful painted blue Irises placed near the plants in full bloom on some of the exhibition days.

His mentor, Professor Salima Hashmi shared that visiting the site “evoked memories of music, listening to Roshan Ara Begum very early morning singing the Raag Bhairvi.” Saeed acknowledges the sittings in the garden with classical dancer Naheed Siddiqui, Hasan Moheyuddin, Zeb Bangash and others, who enriched his experience. Following the crescendo of a musical composition, the faintest but very precise drawings of tulips can be viewed in folders.

The imagery of cypress trees was found on the walls of the Cypruss tomb, panels of irises at Jehangir’s tomb, Shalimar Bagh gates, Wazir Khan Mosque, Masjid Dar Hanga and others. The artist documents his own history and that of his ancestors, compiling imagery on iris plants such as Ustad Mansur’s 1620s ‘portrait’ of tulips, and 60 drawings of tulips by Saeed.

This is a rich resource for conservationists working in the environs of Lahore, as Saeed’s work can allow the reading and cataloguing of botanical form within its layered and subtle nuances.

‘Gardenfinds Two’ is a work in progress, much like the garden is. The show was curated by Maliha Paracha and accompanies an elaborate essay by her on Usman’s process and vision.

“Gardenfinds Two” was held from February 20 to April 10, 2021 at the artist’s family home garden Bagh-i-Sadia, Lahore. It can be accessed online at https://www.instagram.com/usmansaeedstudio/

Published in Dawn, EOS, April 11th, 2021