# Raja Changez Sultan

Raja Changez Sultan (born 6 December 1949) is a Pakistani poet and painter. He produces landscape and portrait paintings in both oil and charcoal and has published several books of poetry.
He has held over 70 exhibitions in Austria, England, Switzerland, Oman, and Pakistan, with the most notable ones at the Winter Palace in Vienna (1992) and Cadogan Contemporary in London (1991).

## Biography
### Early life and education

Born in his family's ancestral village of Shakarparian. He attended Lawrence College, Ghora Gali before earning a full scholarship to Shrewsbury School in England. He then went on to study at Trinity College and Columbia University. At Columbia he completed two master's degrees, one in journalism and the other in creative writing and painting.

### Career beginnings

He worked at the United Nations and the World Health Organisation in Geneva for two years, and then returned to Pakistan to serve in the tourism sector.

### Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC)

He worked for over 25 years in the tourism sector of Pakistan.

### Pakistan National Council of Arts

Sultan was appointed as director general for the Pakistan National Council of the Arts in Islamabad where he advanced the work of artists, thinkers, writers, and the visual and performing arts. During his four-and-a-half year tenure at the Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA), Sultan helped spearhead over 60 major visual arts exhibitions which included photography, paintings and sculptures. During his tenure at the PNCA, he helped organise events such as the National Drama Festival and National Music Festival.

### Recognition
## Artistic work
### Paintings

His first series of paintings was The Divided Self to showcase the multiple personalities we each have in us. His second series was The Himalyan Odyssey based on his travel in the mountains. Another series called The Crucifixion of Eve which is to represent how women are put on the cross everyday as she bears the brunt of responsibility of the world,

### Poetry

Sultan has written 4 books on poetry exploring the themes of his ancestral home, the himalayan mountains and human psycohology.

## Selected publications

The following books have been authored by Sultan:
* Thirteen Ways of looking at a Nomad (1982)
* Shakarparian (1998)
* The Death of Indifference (2022)
* Himalayan Odyssey (2023)

## Exhibitions

* Discovery Art Gallery, Upper Montclair, New Jersey, USA. 1974
* Montclair Hospital Gallery, Montclair, New Jersey, USA 1974
* Rawalpindi Club, Rawalpindi 1985
* Alhamra Art Gallery, Lahore, 1986
* Interiors Art Gallery, Islamabad 1986
* Interiors Art Gallery, Islamabad 1987
* Nairang Art Gallery, Lahore 1987
* French Cultural Centre, Islamabad 1990
* Chaukandi Art Gallery, Karachi 1990
* National Art Gallery, Islamabad 1991
* Cadogan Contemporary, London 1991
* Folk Kunde Museum, Winter Palace, Vienna 1992
* National Art Gallery, Islamabad 1992
* Panhans Art Gallery, Semmering 1992
* Sacre Coeur Art Gallery, Vienna 1993
* National Art Gallery, Islamabad 1995
* Art Gallery, Islamabad 1995
* National Art Gallery, Islamabad 1996
* Edwarde's College, Peshawar 1996
* Art Gallery, Islamabad 1996
* Nomad Gallery, Islamabad 1997
* Majmua Art Gallery, Karachi 1997
* American Centre, Islamabad 1998
* Soni Gallery, London 1998
* French Cultural Center, Islamabad 1999
* French Cultural Center, Islamabad 1999
* Chaukandi Gallery, Karachi 1999
* Croweaters Gallery, Lahore 2000
* Le Chat Gallery, Geneva 2000
* Chaukandi Gallery, Karachi 2000
* Gallerichangez, Islamabad 2001
* Clifton Art Gallery, Karachi 2002
* Alliance Francaise, Islamabad 2002
* Chaukandi Gallery, Karachi 2003
* Gallerichangez, Karachi 2003
* Clifton Art Gallery, Karachi 2004
* Gallerie Changez, Islamabad 2004
* Royaat Gallery, Lahore 2004
* Khas Galery, Islamabad 2004
* Chaukandi Art Gallery, Karachi 2005
* Bait Al Muzna, Oman 2005
* Ijaz Gallery, Lahore 2006
* Chaukandi Gallery, Karachi 2006
* Royaat Gallery, Lahore 2007
* Tanzara Gallery, Islamabad 2007
* Collector's Galleria, Lahore 2008
* Tanzara Gallery, Islamabad 2008
* Louvre Gallery, Karachi 2009
* Native Art Gallery, Lahore 2009
* Tanzara Gallery, Islamabad 2023