This folder contains a selection of artist profiles, catalogues, invitations, correspondences, clippings, and photographs related to the Art Galleries, Society of Contemporary Art in Rawalpindi, from its establishment to its closing. The gallery opened in 1961 and was acknowledged to be Pakistan’s first art gallery, with Zubeida Agha as the Director. It ran successfully for 16 years despite the lack of staff and funding and eventually closed down in 1977 upon Agha’s resignation. During those years, Agha hosted exhibitions every three weeks, featuring works of artists from East (present-day Bangladesh) and West Pakistan, as well as overseas artists from the United States, Germany, France, Turkey, and Iran, to name a few. In the face of insufficient resources, Agha would prepare exhibition collaterals and handle gallery-related communications herself; many of these associated correspondence and documents are presented in this folder.

The Art Galleries have been referred to with many different names across press clippings, official documents and art historical texts. Some of the following may appear in the documents in this folder: Society of Contemporary Art Galleries; Contemporary Art Galleries, Rawalpindi; Gallery of Contemporary Art in Rawalpindi; Rawalpindi Art Gallery; and Gallery of Modern Art, Rawalpindi.