Zahoor ul Akhlaq was one of the most innovative modern artists to emerge from Pakistan. Born in Delhi, he migrated with his family to Lahore after the Partition. He studied at the National College of Arts (NCA), Lahore, where he came under the mentorship of Shakir Ali, whose ideas about modernism and Eastern aesthetics profoundly shaped Akhlaq’s artistic outlook. From Shakir Ali, Akhlaq learnt that Western modern art and traditional Islamic forms did not need to be in conflict; instead, they could coexist and enrich one another. In 1966, Akhlaq received a scholarship to study at the Royal College of Art in London, UK. There he encountered contemporary movements such as...