Pakistani Miniature Artists Exhibit in Japan

Our view of the world around us is often shaped by the latest technology, like the cameras that bring us around-the-clock news about the turbulence in south Asia.

A group of Pakistani artists, however, are bucking the trend by using a centuries-old medium to interpret current events in often daring ways that challenge perceptions filtered through the mass media. Their emotionally charged works, some as small as six centimeters by six centimeters, can be seen in “Contemporary Miniature Paintings from Pakistan,” now under way at the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum.

Among the show’s 66 paintings by 19 artists-who are all in their 20s and 30s-are works by Saira Wasim, who was born in the ancient Pakistani city of Lahore and now lives in Chicago…