Gulgee Museum: The Handbook
Curated by Amin Gulgee
Edited by John McCarry
Deliverable/s
Design & Layout | Cover Design
Printed by:
Le’Topical
Published by:
Lightstone Publishers, 2025
Project Description
Gulgee Museum: The Handbook is the definitive companion publication to the Gulgee Museum in Karachi, offering a comprehensive exploration of the life, work, and legacy of one of Pakistan’s most influential artists, Ismail Gulgee. Conceived as both a scholarly resource and an interpretive guide, the handbook extends the museum’s curatorial vision beyond its physical spaces.
Spanning approximately 320 pages, the volume brings together a series of critical essays by leading writers, historians, and thinkers. These texts examine Gulgee’s artistic evolution - from his early figurative portraits to his groundbreaking abstract and calligraphic works - while situating his practice within broader cultural, political, and intellectual contexts. The essays also reflect on Gulgee’s engagement with spirituality, power, ritual, between tradition and modernity, highlighting the complexity and range of his artistic language.
Richly illustrated and carefully structured, The Handbook functions not merely as a record of the museum’s collection, but as an enduring reference for scholars, students, and art enthusiasts. It documents the curatorial framework of the Gulgee Museum while contributing meaningfully to the discourse on Pakistani art.
