Jimmy Engineer – The Artist who Relived 1947

By  Sasha Scheherazade

Not many artists have achieved success where documenting the traumatic experience of one of the most horrific and grandest migrations in history is concerned. The colonial British powers that brought Pakistan and India into being nearly seven decades back, was not without an engineered and very violent partition of the boundaries.  

  

"I have relived 1947," says Jimmy Engineer, "although I was born seven years after the inception of Pakistan, but to me it seems that the very time of partition, with people migrating from Indian border to Pakistan by whatever means they could, is still etched afresh a memory as if I had lived through this whole process of partition, died and my rebirth happened in the year 1954," says the artist par excellence, who has proclaimed himself  as The Servant of Pakistan. 

Seeing Jimmy Engineer's work on his Independence Series one can observe the trauma encountered by some 20 million displaced people who migrated on that fateful night of August 1947. Almost a million immigrants were ruthlessly murdered, men, women, and children, the young and the elderly in a brutal sectarian orgy.   

  

Jimmy, as he likes to be called,  elaborates, "I was spiritually motivated to make these paintings on partition to honour the unknown people who gave their lives while migrating to Pakistan that is why I call myself the Servant of Pakistan."  Born in 1954 in Baluchistan, Pakistan, his Zoroastrian family hardly anticipated that he will break boundaries of caste and creed and will become a custodian of multi-ethnicity through his paintings and his indifferent yet reciprocal altruism.

 "I have not witnessed 1947 partition with a naked eye, yet I feel I was spiritually connected with the episode." - JE 

  

Among his most notable work on the Independence Series is the “The Last Burning Train of 1947.” The artwork was made in the year 2009, an oil on canvas series that measures 108 inches x 60 inches, depicts the incident wherein a train laden with dead migrants was set ablaze and yet continued towards its destination.
  

  

  

Dressed in dark kurta and white shalwar, the national dress of Pakistan, artist Jimmy Fali Engineer was born in Loralai, the 65-year-old artist fondly reminiscences about his partition artworks. "I feel privileged to have been spiritually motivated while I painted partition. My paintings do not contain a gruesome aspect but give out hope. I have not witnessed 1947 partition with a naked eye, yet I feel I was spiritually connected with the episode, I saw these images in a dream and was compelled to relate what resided in my subconscious mind on the canvas."  

   

"My chief motive is to inspire the youth and honour all those people who could never see Pakistan, who have no names, and who will remain unidentified and nameless. My painting will stand as a testament of those historic events especially in the coming times." This spiritual testament is divided into seven different paintings drawn between periods from 1977 to 2009.   

  

Among his most notable work on the Independence Series is the “The Last Burning Train of 1947.” The artwork was made in the year 2009, an oil on canvas series that measured 108 inches x 60 inches, and depicted the plight of migrants. This spiritual testament is divided into five different paintings drawn between the year 1977 to 2009.  A lot of his partition works hold no record because they were given away. 

  

A chronology of Jimmy Engineer's famous Independence Series include: 

In the year 1977, he started his Independence Series and painted "Refugees Resting Under a Tree in 1947.  

In the year 1978, emerged, "The Struggle for Independence in 1947." 

In the year 1980, he painted, "In Honor of the Men and Women who Sacrificed Their Lives in the Struggle of 1947 for The Creation of Pakistan." 

In the year 1981, arrived "The Burning Train." To date the painting remains unfinished. The incompleteness is in itself a completion. 

In the year 1982, "Flag of Independence" was incorporated in the Independence Series. 

In the year, 2004, the artist painted "Tragic Memories of 1947" 

In the year 2009, the final of the series, "The Last Burning Train" was painted.

Other than Independence Series, this proud Servant of Pakistan have made numerous individual drawings related to Pakistan's partition. Each drawing not only narrates an individual's ordeal but depicts the plight of the survivors of 1947's massive, historic partition. These spectacular partition artworks vary in size and shape and for most works, the  medium used is Oil on Canvas. The works have been showcased all around the globe whereas the epic painting of the series named, "The Last Burning Train" resides with Pakistan at the National Museum, in Islamabad, Pakistan. 

"My chief motive is to inspire the youth and honour all those people who could never see Pakistan, who have no names, and who will remain unidentified and nameless." - JE

The paintings inspired by Partition have firmly established Mr.Engineer’s repute as the only artist from Pakistan who outshines from the rest. Jimmy Engineer has expressed himself on many other genres from social media to different international TV channels. This humble and unassuming art titan has effortlessly fetched billions and donated to his other passion i.e, philanthropy. He has walked miles for causes, supported troubled individuals as well as numerous social welfare institutions. He remains a Sufi at heart, loves to remain undocumented and a firm believer of humanitarianism. His artworks are expressions of truth and his images speak of his compassion for the people he has envisioned.

Sasha Scheherzade is a freelance blogger and art critic under iBlog by Sasha at Blogspot.com. 

The article has officially been published in the Inflight Magazine PIA Humsafar, Volume 44 Issue 05
Source - https://www.piac.com.pk/images/humsafar_mag/14.pdf
Link - PIA Humsafar Volume 33, Issue 05