culture
Local Schools and Galleries Transformed Karachi Into Pakistan's Art Hub
Institutions and collectors turned the port city into a stronger market for work from across Pakistan.
How we reported this
Karachi’s art market expanded in the decades after partition as private schools and early commercial galleries took root in the city, according to reporting from The Express Tribune in 2016.
The growth matters in 2026 because the same networks of training and sales that began in the 1960s still shape where artists from other provinces first reach wider audiences and collectors. The city’s position as the country’s main commercial centre has kept it ahead of other places for both exhibition opportunities and buyer interest.
Foundations laid in the 1960s and 1970s
After 1947 several established painters moved to Karachi and continued working here, including Fyzee Rahamin. The Meena School of Art, later known as Karachi School of Art, opened in 1964 under sisters Rabia Zuberi and Hajra Mansur. Six years later Ali Imam started Indus Gallery, one of the country’s first private commercial spaces for contemporary work. These steps gave young artists both classroom instruction and a place to show and sell pieces inside the city.
Curators and gallery directors noted that art awareness remained limited until more degree programmes appeared. The Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture opened roughly two decades before the 2016 article, filling a gap that had existed since the National College of Arts operated mainly in Lahore. Once local higher education options increased, more graduates stayed in Karachi and began showing work through new galleries.
Buyers and regional artists
By the mid-2000s stronger economic conditions had raised interest among middle-class and upper-middle-class residents in buying art for homes and offices. Gallery owners reported that shows featuring artists from outside Karachi often sold better here than in their home cities. An exhibition in Karachi frequently gave those artists their first newspaper coverage and larger sales, which in turn helped some launch work abroad.
Directors at Koel Art Gallery and Sanat Initiative told The Express Tribune that the scene stayed lively because the city offered space for many styles and because sales continued even when political conditions shifted. The same pattern of steady demand and expanding education options has kept Karachi the main destination for artists seeking wider recognition and buyers.