“He refused and advised me to complete secondary school at least before venturing into arts,” he recalls.
Akbar regards drawing books of Walter T Foster series, presented to him for getting good grades in high school, his first teacher which proved instrumental in learning the basics of figure drawing. He still wonders why he opted for pre-engineering in DJ Science College Karachi.
“The only thing I enjoyed during studies was observing a big range of human faces when I used to walk through Empress Market to change buses daily on my way to DJ College and back home,” he says.
Due to lack of interest in pre-engineering, Akbar failed all subjects and finally landed in the National College of Arts.
“It was like moving from a small pond to an ocean. Practising drawing, sculpture and interaction with fellow students, working in various disciplines, enriched my experience. A conducive environment and experimenting in various forms of performing arts helped me develop conceptual understanding of arts. I couldn’t forget the excitement of transforming sketchy characters, created on paper, into three dimensional puppets and using them for stage performances,” he relates.
Witty and soft-spoken Akbar Zia is committed to teaching the skills he evolved over the years to young aspirants. He is conducting workshops for various institutions for the last few years. Working for more than two decades with national and international organisations, he has numerous publications to his credit.
Akbar’s stunningly sharp perception of varied human features and emotions distinct his works when compared to his contemporaries. The skillfully controlled lines facilitate him to come up with crispy, subtle and spontaneous works, which carry the pride and sharp smile of a ludicrous caricaturist.
Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2018