ART FACTS: Artistic compositions

When Adil Salahuddin graduated from National College of Arts (NCA), Lahore in miniature painting under the guidance of legendary artist Ustad Haji Sharif (late) little did he know what future behold for him. For more than three decades he has been associated to philately because of his job as a chief stamp designer at the Pakistan Security Printing Corporation, , he had retired as General Manager of the Pakistan Security Printing Corporation in 2002 and he is currently General Manager of Pakistan's Post Office Foundation Press.
Adil Salahuddin has designed a record number of stamps, over 600 for Pakistan and 250 million copies of his creations being reproduced and circulated the world over. A recipient of the President's Pride of Performance award in 1988 and the Sitara-i-Imtiaz in 2010 he is among the top ten most prolific stamp designers in the world.
A book "Message Sent: A legendary postage stamp designer" written by Arshi Ahmad Aziz launched recently at Beach Luxury hotel is a research work preserved over the last fifty years related to philately. The book included stamps and art-works produced by Adil Salahuddin during his long career.
He has not only designed stamps for Pakistan, but he also designed stamps, bank notes, passports, bonds, shares certificates and identity cards for several other countries, such as Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Burma, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Nepal, Oman, Qatar, Sri Lanka and Yemen.
He introduced new techniques and styles in stamp design of Pakistan for example in 1976 when he illustrated a panoramic view of Mohenjo-daro he designed it in 'se-tenant' format of five stamps giving a captivating view of the site at a glance.
Stamp design is not an easy task as events in history are marked by the production of specific stamps the designer's artistic talents are challenged because of space limitations along with the necessity to represent the pre-determined theme.
Adil Salahuddin said in the book, "One of the difficulties in stamp design is the size of the image. We have to use a magnifier and that needs a lot of concentration. The stamp is small, and has to appeal not only to the general public, but to stamp collectors also. The size makes it a hard decision as to what to leave out and what to put in. At the same time, the image has to be simple, and easily comprehendible to the common man."
Stamps are issued to commemorate and celebrate events of national and international importance, to draw attention to global events and issues, and to reflect the country of origins contribution to world affairs. They are rightly termed as ambassadors of any country.
Each stamp is a work of art. One of the political events, Quaid-e-Azam's great stamp in real gold, designed by Adil Salahuddin, of 10 Rupees printed in France in 1976, and other great works have been beautifully rendered in this book, which showed the great personalities, poets, academicians, international personalities, mosques, education institutions and the various rulers who visited Pakistan.
Beside the historic Pakistani stamps, he has also drawn stamps of eminent buildings and sites outside Pakistan including Masjid-e-Nabvi, the Dome of Rock and Al-Hamra (Spain), different other places of worship, industries of Pakistan, archaeology and architecture, agriculture and agricultural produce. The important archaeological sites have all been depicted in a manner which reflects the important occasions and landmarks.
Other events such as joint ventures with foreign governments, important structures and occasions such as catastrophic events like an earthquake depicting the extent of deaths and destructions all over the Northern Areas. The anniversary of the earthquake has also been depicted along with such occasions as the 10-billion-dollar export from Pakistan, which was highlighted on more than 20 stamps by Adil Sallahuddin.
Hence the book is a fascinating collection of philately history of Pakistan and a record of Pakistan stamps through decades.
(The writer can be reached at [email protected])