VIII. Pakistan
Rob recorded architecture in the Swat and Kalash Valleys of Pakistan, documenting mosques and wood carvings.
“….he draws them (buildings) in such an animistic way that their walls heave with breath and flush with feeling, despite the superficial formality of Powell’s subject matter… in these apparently inert structures Powell is able to visualize… a reality beyond the physical that can be known only through intuition and not through the senses. This is the artist’s real gift – the skills he exhibits in capturing something that lies beyond what can be seen. It is a skill that surpasses even his obsessive technical proficiency.”
– Michael O’ Sullivan, The Washington Post Feb 14,1999
In June 1980 Robert rented a house in Chauni near Swayambhu in the Kathmandu Valley where he could work on his sketches from Kalash and Swat on larger sheets and in greater detail.
One of the many standout pieces from Rob’s work in Pakistan is the Qiba Wall Exterior of a mosque at Gabral Jaba in Swat. Large slabs of deodar timber are plastered with mud and decorated with coloured clays. A column from another structure has been incorporated into the wall. The prayer niche has a curious tree-like shape with spiralling edges and coloured clay decoration which is reminiscent of a standing goat. It reinforces the general feel of the building as one where the old gods have not been entirely forgotten by the recent converts to Islam.
