By Rose
Killalea
 |
| St Peters Church in Rome |
I find
myself in Pakistan, the muezzin just outside my window calling
Muslims to prayer on a cool and dark evening. I'm here to work with Medicine Sans Frontieres (MSF) in a hospital in Taliban territory. My personal mission in my
down-time, suggested by a friend, is to write about art in the
churches and mosques of Pakistan. I grab this idea of hers with both
hands, inspired immediately by the art/church connection, and the
challenge of writing. Little do I know I will be confined to quarters
in Pakistan for security reasons, and will never get to explore
beyond the walls of the compound.
But
Pakistan comes to me instead, through the many locals I work with,
and I see their love of beauty and art in the gorgeous fabrics of the
shalwar kameese the women wear, in their handmade jewellery, in the
superbly decorated trucks and tuktuks they drive, painted and gilded
on every part visible to the naked eye.
