Art Galleries & Museums
Pnca Art Gallery
Art Galleries & Museums like Idara Saqafat-e-Pakistan (Pakistan National Council of the Arts) runs two art galleries. The National Gallery is located at House # 77, Street # 48, F-7/4, Islamabad (Tel: 9204951), where contemporary Pakistani art is on permanent display besides revolving exhibitions & paintings available for sale. The other is Children Art Palace, # 77 School Road, F-7/4, Islamabad, where Children’s art is on display and regular art classes held for children.
Lok Virsa Heritage Museum & Library
With a covered area of 60,000 sq.ft, the Lok Virsa Heritage Museum is the first state museum of ethnology that presents the history and living traditions of the people of Pakistan in a chronological sequence. It offers an enchanting journey through glorious civilizations of the past to the present day traditions. It is a walk through corridors of history placed in a setting that absorbs the visitor in its splandour. The museum has a large display of embroidered costumes, jewellery, woodwork, metal work, block printing, ivory and bone work. Traditional architectural façade exhibiting such skills as fresco, mirror work, marble inlay, tile mosaic and stucco tracery from different regions of Pakistan. Heritage Museum remains open daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday is weekly off. Entry ticket is Rs. 25/- for Pakistanis and Rs.200/- for foreign visitors (Tel: 9201685, 9203983).
Lok Virsa Heritage Library is equipped with resource data on ethnography, anthropology, folk music, art, crafts and history. Books, video and audio cassettes/CDs containing documentaries on folk culture, folk heritage, folk and classical vocal and instrumental music are also available for sale at the Lok Virsa Sales Centre. Annual Artisans-at-Work Festival is also organized during the month of April.
Pakistan Museum of Natural History
The Museum of Natural History is on Garden Avenue in National Park Area. The Museum depicts the early human history, geology, and the wild life of Pakistan. The exhibits are of particular interest to students and children. It is open to public from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. except Friday. Entry is free.
Islamabad Museum
Islamabad museum presents a long historic sequence of the land where Pakistan is situated today. Pakistan has been a seat of the world’s leading civilizations from the time immemorial. There is plenty of evidence to support this argument now on display in Islamabad Museum. For example, 20 million years old fossil remains, 2 million years old man-made stone tools, 7000 years old early human settlements, which lead to the world famous Indus Civilization, Gandhara Grave Culture and Gandhara art, early Islamic settlements, Sultanate and Mughal period, their art and craft.
The Museum is located at Sir Syed Memorial Building, Islamabad. It is open for visitors, Thursday to Tuesday, from 09:30 to 16:30 hrs without break. Wednesday is weekly off and there is a prayer break on every Friday from 12:30 to 14:00 hrs (Tel:9221325)
