How Imran Qureshi is turning two Bradford parks into works of art

Charged with creating a large art installation in a city park, Imran Qureshi was prepared for the obvious difficulties. The Pakistani artist arrived in Bradford a week or so ago to begin work on Garden within a Garden. Painting directly on paving stones surrounding the fountains at Cartwright Hall, he knew he had to allow enough time in his calendar to take account of any inclement Yorkshire weather. He’d also had the entire area carefully cordoned off to ensure no one trod on the wet paint. What he wasn’t prepared for was the reaction of one young lad who spotted the work in progress.

“He shouted over to me: ‘Hey, mister, why are you littering?’” laughs Qureshi, who is part-way through the painting when we meet. “I guess it’s nice to see that people are protective of the place, but before there was any trouble a security guard explained what I was doing.”

There will be a similar work in Bradford’s City Park and both are inspired by a largely forgotten section of the British Army who fought in the First World War. The British Raj enlisted a huge number of Sikh, Muslim and Hindu soldiers to serve on the Western Front, but when the conflict ended and the world was desperate to step out of the shadow of war, their role was whitewashed out of history.

“It’s not just in this country that people think the only people to fight in the trenches were white, working class men from Britain,” says Qureshi. “I thought that too. That’s what I was taught at school. In fact, the British Indian Army was a million-strong. They found themselves in a hostile climate in a distant land and that’s what I really wanted to explore.”

Qureshi has created Garden within a Garden at a number of different locations across the world. Often the work uses large splashes of red paint, but in Bradford he is using a black and white palette.

“Our memory of major wars is written in black and white and the photographs of those conflicts years ago are in black and white, so it seems to work. I don’t set out with an exact design of how the work will look,” he says. “I think it’s important that you respond to the space. In many ways, Cartwright Hall is the most challenging blank canvas I’ve worked on for this particular piece. The paving stones are less uniform than in other places and there are various water features running through it, which I want to feel part of the whole. I haven’t yet decided to bring out the red paint. I know people will maybe expect it, but I want it to feel right for the space.”

From a few feet away, Qureshi’s work looks like someone has either liberally splattered the paving stones with black paint or daubed them with charcoal. However, close-up the detail is clear. Using the ancient techniques associated with Indian painting, the designs on each of the paving stones contain small flowers and leaves. It is incredibly intricate and alongside the fountains his work looks more like running water than acrylic paint.

“Previously I have painted every single block in the section, but I have decided to do it a little different this time,” he says, referring to the fact that some sections have been left deliberately blank and the design looks more like an unfinished jigsaw puzzle. “For me that’s how memory works. There are some images, some events which stick in your mind and which will pop up again and again, taking on different meanings each time.”

Blessed with good weather, Qureshi has been working for up to 12 hours a day on the installations, which will form part of this year’s Yorkshire Festival. Some artists would have employed a team of painters to bring their vision to life, but he prefers to operate as a one-man band, altering and adapting the piece as he goes along.

It is a busy time for Qureshi. Regarded as having almost single-handedly revived the miniature movement, 35 pieces which were completed in around six months have just gone on display at London’s Barbican and he’s about to fly out to New Orleans where three different exhibitions of his work will open simultaneously.

“I am always conscious of how other people will see my work. Thirty five paintings is a lot for one exhibition and I didn’t want them all to blend into one. That can happen sometimes. You can retain someone’s interest for the first four or five, but then they stop really looking.

“If a piece of art doesn’t create an emotional connection, it’s nothing. The last thing any artist wants is for their work to be considered boring. Fortunately the reviews have been good, so I am happy.”

While at art school, Qureshi, who lives and works in Lahore, initially concentrated on landscape and mixed-media. It was one of his tutors who persuaded him to try his hand at Mughal-style painting. Born in the ancient royal courts, the technique was used centuries earlier to create the first book illustrations and, while it is painstakingly intricate, Qureshi soon became hooked.

“It does take a long time to master, but there is no other way of learning the technique other than putting in some very long hours. There are now a few of us working in this medium and a few years ago we decided to replicate the old factory method of production, where one person was responsible for one element of the design. Once their part was complete they would pass it onto the next person. We had no money for the project, so we were sending the works through the post. Unfortunately one postman didn’t realise what was inside one envelope and folded the work just to get it through the door. When I opened it, I found a painting in two halves. In the end, that crack became part of the work. I’ve learnt through my career that having a positive attitude is important.”

Another familiar motif in Qureshi’s work is violence. It’s what, at least in part, has inspired Garden within a Garden, which is funded by the 1418now organisation which was set up to commission contemporary responses to the Great War and most of his work contains some dark element. It is perhaps not surprising given the history of his home country, which has often been overshadowed by conflict, but Qureshi, who is married to fellow artist Aisha Khalid, with whom he has two sons, is also on a mission to show the world a different side to his country.

“Pakistan is often only in the news when there are problems, so that’s the only image a lot of people have of our country, but there is so much more to it than that,” he says. “Since 1994 I have been teaching at the same art school where I studied and the art scene in Pakistan is really thriving. That’s exciting and being close to these young people is good for me. As an artist you can get stuck in a rut, you can become complacent, but students challenge your ideas all the time and that’s always really refreshing.”

Garden within a Garden, Cartwright Hall and City Park, Bradford, to July 3. Entry is free, but for more details call 01274 431212 or go to 1418now.org.uk