Syed Jamal Shah, Director General of the PNCA, is an artist, writer, filmmaker, educationist and social worker. Following a masters in English Literature from Baluchistan University, he joined The National College of Arts, Lahore, studying Fine Arts with a major in sculpture. On completing his professional studies, he returned to his hometown Quetta and established the Department of Fine Arts in Baluchistan University. Shah also founded the Hunerkada College of Visual and Performing Arts in Islamabad. He is also a prolific artist who has exhibited across Pakistan and internationally, with his work held in the permanent collections of The Victoria and Albert Museum, UK, and Fukuoka Art Museum, Japan. Pakistan National Council of the Arts The Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) was set up to spearhead the development of arts in Pakistan. Its aims to build a robust arts ecosystem by creating an environment conducive to the flourishing of the arts, where the arts are accessible to everyone and artists and art groups have the commitment, financial support and resource to excel at home, and on the world stage. To build new audiences and broaden arts participation, the PNCA engages the wider community in the arts through outreach programmes targeted at different sectors of the population. It also endorses arts education programmes for artists and arts groups.
