The exhibition featured around 200 canvases and portraits spread across extensive themes. PHOTO: COURTESY VM ART GALLERY
Buzzing with art lovers, well-wishers, critics and other prominent artists from the city, the gallery housed some 200 canvases and portraits spread across extensive themes.
The show brought out the best of the passionate efforts of artists from Quetta and Gujrat to Bahawalpur. Not only were the works displayed under one roof but they also gave the students and fresh graduates the chance to interact with each other. "Some of the works on gender are really bold here," said Usra Sheikh of the Centre of Excellence Art and Design (CEAD), Jamshoro, while commenting on the works. "We can't practice it in the same way back in Jamshoro."
Gender discrimination and objectification of women are themes that reverberated across many works on display. For example, Samra Zamir from Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture (IVS) used plastic and body fillers to show how she felt about herself in public spaces. Interestingly, her pieces are ambiguous and can be interpreted in a number of ways. "People are deriving all kinds of meaning from it while it really is a female body," she told The Express Tribune.
Like all artists have a personal journey to narrate behind their canvases, so did Batool Zehra from the visual studies department at Karachi University. She had laid out a carpet of ash on the floor of the gallery and titled it 'Farsh'. Symbolising the concept of impermanence, the artist explained she believes her past is better than her present.
"My father lost his job in a paint factory burning incident a few years ago," she narrated. "Being the eldest, there was always an added pressure on me to spend carefully and be responsible. That's what makes me feel that the gone days are better than the present ones."
Installations positioned at various spots in the gallery gave out powerful messages from history and the chaos of the current times. An artist from the National College of Art, Rawalpindi, displayed transparent bottles of creative shapes on parchments. They were like scrolls with a message from history. For instance, one of them gave a short biography of Syed Muzaffar Hussain, an influential figure from All India Radio. In another installation, there were small plastic chairs placed in a circle on which headless children made of Plaster of Paris were seated.
To witness the emotional investment of these talented students, drop by the gallery until March 25.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 4th, 2015.
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