Art Criticism in Pakistan: A Dilemma

This article highlights some of the fundamental misconceptions of art criticism in Pakistan. At one hand it draws the importance of art criticism in general, and on other hand it traces the shortcomings of art criticism in particular. It explores the ways art criticism should be understood. Usually, the word criticism conveys negative connotations. It is suggested that an art critic must understand the true spirit of art criticism and nature of art. A critic should have thorough knowledge of the formal and contextual properties of the artifacts. Art criticism in Pakistan is neither methodical nor systematic. There is a need that artists and art critics both should participate in the process of evaluation by adopting intrinsic and extrinsic methods of analysis. The article investigates some of the important philosophical concepts dealing with evaluation and judgment of art. It also examines the artist’s role as an evaluator of his own work and its impact on the subsequent generation.