Visual Arts 2003 Exhibition

Great artistic treat for Lahoris

By Anjum Gill and Amir Nafees

LAHORE: Colours, aesthetics and creativity will play symphony at the 8th National Exhibition of Visual Arts 2003, which is opening today (Monday) at Alhamra Art Gallery for the first time in Lahore since all of its events were earlier held in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The exhibition will continue till June 5.

The Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) is organising the arts extravaganza.

Colours, aesthetics and creativity will play a major role at the exhibition. Most of the participants will have their oil paintings on display, which seems quite a common medium with artists. However, there are a number of artists who have combined two or three mediums in their work.

There are also several who have used watercolours, which is indeed one of the most sensitive mediums and require technical proficiency. In addition to that, there is a decent representation of miniature and calligraphy, which is one of the most popular and creative expressions amongst the artists of the sub-continent and Islamic world.

It’s interesting to see a variety of sculptures by prominent sculptors displayed in the lawns of Alhamra, huge in scale and innovative in expression.

In all, 400 works by 220 artists from all over Pakistan are displayed at the gallery. According to an official, are 93 entries from the Punjab, 76 from Sindh, 10 from the NWFP, nine from Balochistan and 30 from Islamabad. Entries were received till the deadline, 11.00pm on Sunday. Over 100 women artists are also participating in the event.

The PNCA has already sent invitations to artists, art students and reporters for the opening ceremony. The PNCA national selection committee headed by Gulgee and includes Prof Saeed Akhtar, Prof Collin David, Mansoor Rahi and Marjorie Hussain will give away 10 awards to the best entries.

A Lifetime Achievement Award would also be awarded to someone who devoted his or her life to the arts. The remaining nine national awards would be given on the basis of entries received and selected by the committee.

Coordinator of the exhibition, an artist herself, Mussarat Naheed Imam, said all artists in Pakistan were invited to participate through their respective provincial arts councils. Ms Naheed said the provinces’ advisory committees of visual arts made the initial selections of the exhibits, but the national selection committee will make the final selection.

However, she added, the initial selection for Balochistan, the NWFP and Islamabad were made in Islamabad due to financial constraints. But the invitations to participate were extended through the concerned provincial arts councils.

The committee, which made the initial selections in Islamabad included Mansoor Rahi, Jamal Shah, Hamayun Talat, Aftab Ahmed and Naeem Pasha.

The advisory committee in Punjab comprised of Salima Hashmi, Qudoos Mirza, Bashir Ahmed, Muhammad Asif and the committee in Sindh included Marjorie Hussain, Rabia Zuberi, Naheed Raza and Zohra Hussain.

Besides prominent artists, art lovers will have the opportunity to witness the works of newcomers such as Mughees Riaz, Ali Azmat, Qasim Mehmood, Jamil Baloch, Sumaya Durrani, Amna Jehan, Elahi Bukhsh Matti, Hameed Baloch and Amin Gulgee. Federal Privatisation Minister Sheikh Abdul Hafeez will be the chief guest on the occasion.

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