I as a professional Artist am very well aware of this term; Exploitation. We often come across people struggling to build their future around something or a profession, what do we do? We support them, right? Wrong. We extract as much as work from them for free to benefit ourselves as we can. At least this is what I have seen people in the past 5 years. This is all around the world, not just in Pakistan. But from what I see around, I see that Artists, Creativity and investment of time is not valued in Pakistan than it is in other parts of the world. We still stand in the dark old ages where only 3 professions that are considered as “Proper Professions” are, Doctors, Engineers, and Chartered Accountants.
As an artist, we are requested to paint for free to “Build our portfolios”, it’s not even about the money, but the value and respect Art is given. Gifting a family member a master piece of your own choice of dimensions or even upon asking them about their requirements as long as the artist themselves is willing to do that and not after being asked to do it as per their own requirements is a different thing. A gift from the Artist to a loved one/family member or a friend is a totally different thing. One thing that people don’t seem to understand the amount of hard work, time, effort and material that is used in a single painting is beyond them. Art being the world’s most expensive profession to pursue still doesn’t get half of the return they put into one painting. No amount can justify the effort that goes into it.
An artist who looks for a new home for their paintings is choosey when it comes to saying their good-byes because an art piece is like a child to the creator. an immense amount of hard work, detailing and love is poured into a canvas/surface with each stroke giving a unique finish to every piece. I mean who doesn’t want a customized art piece which no one in the world owns or can recreate. Even if they do, the strokes, the texture and the colors will differ for sure. Even the same artist that created a piece can not recreate it in the exact same way if being told. An art piece is the one that has no text written on it yet it speaks for itself. The amount of detail, observation and emotion that goes into one painting is only what an artist or art lovers would know and wants nothing but their work to be valued in return instead of it being treated like a vehicle to exploitation.
I personally feel it’s unfair to question an artist that shapes everything around you. The furniture you sit on, the clothes you wear to the house you live in and bottles that you use to store your liquids into, all of these things are the creativity or an artist, even the packaging that you read the instructions from Is what an artist designed and put his thoughts into it. Why is it that we end up questioning an artist but never a brand that sells hair ties for $150+ dollars? Family and friends should support by promoting instead of asking for discounts.
Eesha Sufyan
