Fisher woman of my Mohenjo

Foreword
When I asked Jamil Naqsh why he named this collection of paintings ‘Fisher Woman of my Mohenjo-daro’, his answer
took him back to the mid 1960s to one of the visits to Pakistan by the renowned archaeologist, Sir Mortimer Wheeler.
Naqsh was a young man then, and their paths crossed at the Karachi Press Club. He asked Sir Mortimer Wheeler
why the famous bronze figurine excavated in Mohenjo-daro was called the ‘Dancing Girl’ of Mohnejo-daro? Did it
represent a dancing girl? Wheeler’s response was, ‘It is YOUR Mohenjo-daro, so what do YOU want to call her?’
Naqsh remained silent then, but it is obvious that the question stayed with him. From time to time symbols of
the Indus Valley civilization popped up inexplicably in his work—sometimes a figure with ancient features,
sometimes a fish, a bull or images of seals.
This collection titled ‘Fisher Woman of MY Mohenjo-daro’ answers it all. In his mind’s eye, the figure was
erroneously named ‘dancing girl’. She was a fisher woman!
So, Naqsh has responded to Wheeler half a century later. She is indeed a Fisher Woman of HIS Mohenjo-daro.
This collection of paintings is a tribute to her and an apology to the forgotten fisher women of that ancient urban civilization.
Sobia Naqsh
Director
Jamil Naqsh Museum