The Gurmani Centre hosted the Calligraphy Exhibition "یک عمر در خدمتِ قلم" (A Life in the Service of the Pen), on Friday, July 26, 2024, curated by Taimoor Khan Mumtaz (a senior architect and founding director of the Hast-o-Neest Institute of Traditional Studies & Arts in Lahore). This is the first solo show of Ustad Sher Zaman, the in-house calligrapher of the Gurmani Centre, and will continue to be on display in the Academic Block corridors until the end of August. It showcases a diverse range of traditional compositions, executed with great refinement and a keen sense of proportion and design featuring Quranic verses as well as Urdu, Persian, Punjabi, and Pashto poetry and sayings in nasta’liq, thuluth, and naskh. 

Syed Babar Ali graced the event as the Chief Guest and Ms. Saima Khwaja, Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani’s granddaughter represented the Gurmani Foundation, the two forces behind the inception of the Gurmani Centre at LUMS in 2010. The event commenced with a panel discussion encompassing the works on display and the role of traditional arts in society. For this Ustad Sher Zaman was joined by Kamil Khan Mumtaz (a renowned architect, educator, author, and pioneer in architectural heritage conservation), and Syed Sajid Abbas Naqvi Syed al-Hussaini (a distinguished calligrapher with an Ijazah in Khat-e-Nasta’liq and a student of the Iranian master-calligrapher Ustad Nasir Jawaharpur). Taimoor Khan Mumtaz moderated the session. 

Dr. Nadhra Shahbaz Khan, (Director, Gurmani Centre) introduced the Centre’s philosophy of promoting regional languages and literature. She praised Ustad Sher Zaman as an unsung hero, acknowledging his lifelong dedication to perfecting and teaching traditional calligraphy. Taimoor Khan Mumtaz drew attention to the philosophy of traditional aesthetics and the concept of beauty related to balance, emphasizing the importance of understanding traditional arts and their philosophical underpinnings. Syed Babar Ali acknowledged the Gurmani Centre’s contributions and the role of the Gurmani family in promoting regional languages and arts. He also commended Ustad Sher Zaman for his artistry and encouraging the audience to benefit from his expertise. Syed Sajid Abbas discussed the uniqueness and masterful experimentation with different scripts in Ustad Sher Zaman’s works, stressing the importance of understanding the Divine philosophy of aesthetics. Kamil Khan Mumtaz admired the purity of Ustad Sher Zaman’s work, noting that it remains unaffected by the rhetoric of modernity and consumerism, thus preserving its traditional essence. The event concluded with Dr Fatima Fayyaz’s (Assistant Professor, LUMS) beautiful recitation of a Persian poem by Mas‘ud Sa‘d Salman, featured in one of the works on display, leaving a lasting impression on all attendees.