Rare photographs put on display to mark Quaid's birth anniversary.

Byline: Shazia Hasan

KARACHI -- The black and white or sepia photographs of the Pakistan Movement and the Muslim League leaders, especially the Quaid-i-Azam, are pictures that we have grown up with, seeing them in history books or on television over the years. But the Life of Jinnah through Photographs exhibition that opened at the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Museum on Monday to commemorate the Quaid-i-Azam's 143rd birth anniversary includes so many photographs that one must not have seen anywhere before.

There's the Quaid looking out from the train at the Quetta railway station, there's him in a casual pose with University of Punjab students, of him wearing his famous monocle as he replied to the address of Lord Mountbatten in the Constituent Assembly on August 14, 1947, him reading a copy of Dawn, the newspaper he founded, on his 71st birthday on Dec 25, 1947 and, of course, of him with his companion, his younger sister Miss Fatima Jinnah, always standing tall by his side with so many other rare moments captured in the frames of time.

Life of Jinnah through Photographs exhibition opens at the SBP Museum

Every year, the SBP Museum is known for doing something special for the Quaid's birth anniversary. Dr Asma Ibrahim, the founding director of the museum, said that it is always difficult to bring the public to museums, a challenge for museologists all over the world. 'But such exhibitions bring back even those who have already been here before. We started holding special exhibitions here even before the formal opening of the museum in 2008,' she said, while remembering their exhibition of Quaid's paintings, portraits and sculptures Preserving Legacy by Saeed Akhtar held at the same place and around the same time last year.

About the SBP Museum, she said that it is a fully interactive and accessible place for all kinds of physically challenged people too. 'The entire building is accessible by wheelchair and even our brochures are available in Braille,' she said, adding that they have also opened their doors for young art graduates to exhibit their work, starting a residency programme for artists at the museum.

While appreciating Dr Ibrahim's work in putting up the special Jinnah exhibitions every year, SBP Governor Reza Baqir said that the nation was grateful to the Quaid to get them a separate...