On display: A sight for sore eyes

NCA’s annual thesis show continues

LAHORE: The work of 23 miniature painting students from the National College of Arts is being exhibited at an annual thesis show underway at the varsity’s premises.

“My work explores the idea of ‘imposing.’ I have observed that decisions are usually forced on people rather then being discussed where I hail from,” student Abdul Waheed said.



He said this affected women and youngsters the most. “My thesis largely focuses on honour killings, coerced and child marriages,” he said. Waheed said he aspired to bring these issues into the public eye through his work.

Safa Mustafa, another student, said her work explored the phenomenon of something completely overwhelming the others. “I have omitted motifs like figurines and animals. This leaves a void,” she said.

Mustafa said she could relate to the feeling as her father had been unwell last year. While he was physically present, there was something definitely amiss, she said.

Student Arslan Farooqi said he had used paintings from Jehangirnama—the memoirs of Emperor Jehangir—and created a digital version of the book. “The digital pages you see here show the social and political state-of-affairs during the Mughal era,” he said. Farooqi said he was inspired by Rino Stefano Tagliafierro, an Italian director, who had done the same with paintings from the Renaissance in his film Beauty.

Jahanzaib Akmal, another student, said he had fused eight-bit and traditional miniature painting, two different techniques, in his work. He said he used to play eight-bit games like Mario Brothers when he was young.

Akmal said he had combined that with Mughal miniatures that he had been schooled in at the NCA. “This renders an element of nostalgia in my work,” he said.

Syed Khayyam Shah, another student, said he had painted icons as he thought that people had the tendency to diminish the stature of their heroes.  Shah said he was spoilt for choice when it came to choosing people to paint but the dozen he had selected comprised influential personages such as Manto and Ghalib on one hand and others like Purnam Allahabadi who had remained relatively unknown while their work was renowned.



“I have painted old family photographs in relation to the memory and migration of my grandfather,” student Ifrah Mehmood said. She said this was a way of eulogising his move from Srinagar. I have deliberately painted the paintings very photo-realistically to leave those viewing my work at a loss of understanding whether they were paintings or photographs.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 20^th, 2016.