Committee formed to probe 'stolen' artwork by Sindh-based artist

KARACHI: Days after a local Sindh-based artist, Seffy Soomro, alleged that his paintings were stolen and used in a drama serial currently on-air on a private entertainment channel, a special committee has been established recently to look into his complaints.

Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah, Sindh minister for culture, tourism, antiquities and archives, announced the committee after Soomro publicly revealed that he found his paintings in the drama, years after being told that they were lost at an exhibition.

The artist, who is from Daharki in Sindh's Ghotki district, shared his story on social media and posted images of the "stolen" artworks on Instagram.

According to Soomro, these art pieces were among the 16 to 17 paintings that he had created for his thesis project, titled "Innocent Faces", at the University of Sindh's Department of Fine Arts.

His posts on different social media platforms garnered immense traction with people seeking accountability for the "injustice" meted out to Soomro, while highlighting the challenges most artists face in the country's art sector.

Owing to the criticism, the provincial minister revealed that he has tasked the investigation committee, comprising the director generals of the culture and antiquities department, to conduct an in-depth probe into the incident.

The committee is set to investigate the Frere Hall management and the artist's claims of ownership of the paintings, Shah said during an interview to Geo News programme "Geo Pakistan".

"Discovering my paintings being displayed at such a big platform, I was very happy," Soomro said while speaking to Geo News.

"But after that, I was saddened by the fact that they had deceived me by telling me that the paintings were lost."

He added that he "will apply to the Frere Hall administration today for the return of the painting and damages".

Additionally, Soomro said that some people sent a notice to Frere Hall in his name but he was not one of them nor had he sent any notice. He also revealed that he does not even have a lawyer.

Meanwhile, Shah revealed that while he was having the incident investigated by his department, he did not know who filed a complaint to the police.

Soomro, who often posts his artwork on his social media accounts, said he plans to take his work as an artist more seriously moving forward. He revealed that he has been contacted by several forums for his art.

"I feel like I had lost my children and now I know where they are", he said about discovering his paintings.

Soomro also expressed gratitude to people for highlighting the incident and to the authorites for taking action and initiating an investigation into the incident.

What happened?

In the Instagram post's caption, Soomro revealed that he had submitted both pieces to be displayed at an art exhibition at Karachi's Frere Hall in 2017.

However, the Frere Hall management allegedly informed him that the paintings were lost when he attempted to collect them after the exhibition.

Years later, Soomro identified the paintings in an episode of a popular drama and took to social media, claiming that he had been lied to.