Welcome !
VM Art Gallery endeavours to create a space where experiences with art can spark important and much needed dialogue, create room for learning, and make a positive social impact while sustaining a climate of curiosity and interest in the unfamiliar. It is our belief that the arts can contribute immensely to social welfare through a positive and reinforcing impact.
Our programming reflects the intersection of our belief in the critical impact of the arts, and the Trust’s diverse focuses including craft, education, healthcare, and community service. We collaborate with local and international organizations, foreign missions, galleries, and various institutions to investigate the evolution of artistic practice in Pakistan through various formats of inquiry and exhibition.
Our History
The Rangoonwala Trust was founded by the late Mr. Mohammad Aly Rangoonwala with the goal of imparting vocational training to women at the Zuleikhabai V.M. Gany Rangoonwala Community Center in 1971. V.M. Art Gallery was founded within the Community Center as part of the Rangoonwala Trust in 1987 to promote art education, fine arts and to provide a much needed outlet for artists, old and young, to display their works befittingly. Under the capable leadership of Riffat Alvi the gallery became a pioneering force in the Pakistani Art scene.
The Legacy We Carry
The legacy of VM Art Gallery is now continued by Director, Mallika Rangoonwala along with her team Muhammad Qasim, Andrea Anthony and Suneeha Tahir.
The V.M. Art Gallery is overseen by a Visual Arts Committee. The Trustees of ZVMGRT—who as avid admirers of Pakistani and International art, facilitate and give their input in enhancing community living and encouraging art by presenting a rich array of cultural diversity to the Gallery and the Centre. As Trustees and Chairman of the Visual Arts Committee their role is vital in giving the artist community the reliance and avenues into progression.
The Collection
VM Gallery is one of the only institutions in the city with a rich and growing collection of works by Old Masters and Modernists from Pakistan, currently in the process of being digitized. This archive serves as a site for research and study into Pakistani Art History as well as curatorial investigation for exhibitions. For more information about the Collection please contact us at vmart.gallery@gmail.com
ZVM GANY Rangoonwala Trust – Pakistan
The Zuleikhabai Valy Mohammed Gany Rangoonwala Trust was founded in 1967 and operates out of Pakistan. It has three main objectives. Firstly it aims to aid the advancement of education by building, establishing, maintaining and aiding educational institutions at all levels, and by providing domestic and foreign scholarships to students. Secondly it aims to aid the advancement of health, relief of sickness and aiding those with disabilities by establishing, building, improving and helping maintain medical institutions, teaching hospitals and clinics. Their third objective is to aid the sponsorship of the art and cultural activities of the individuals and communities that lack the resources to enhance and supplement their income and skills.
VM Center for Traditional Arts (VMCTA)
The VM Centre for Traditional Arts (VMCTA), based in Karachi, draws inspiration from Pakistan’s artistic traditions and cultural heritage. It aims to revive traditional skills and techniques and to revitalize the relevance of traditional arts in contemporary Pakistan.
Rangoonwala Foundation
The Foundation’s mission is to enable the empowerment of communities by engaging in social development initiatives directed at long-term sustainability and self-reliance. The Foundation works regardless of race or religion and aims to eradicate poverty amongst marginalised communities.
Mohamed Aly Rangoonwala (1924-1998) first started philanthropic work in memory of his parents Valy Mohamed Gany and Zuleikhabia Abdul Rehman in the 1960s. Since then the Rangoonwala Family have continued the M.A. Rangoonwala legacy with significant work across the globe, in particular in the UK, India and Pakistan. Rangoonwala Foundation works through subsidiaries in those countries.