Women look at a painting on display at PNCA. PHOTO: APP
Six young up and coming painters were recognised as the best artists of the past year.
Lahore-based contemporary miniature painter Irfan Gul Dahri bagged the first prize along with Rs200,000 under the Arjumand Painting Awards 2017. An award ceremony was held on Thursday evening at the Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA).
The awards, meant for young artists between 25-40 years of age, were instituted by Gallery 6 in 2015 as the first art award presented by any private gallery in the country at the national level. The aim of the award is to emphasise the importance of classical painting among new, emerging and recently established artists. Moreover, it aims to fill the void for appreciation and recognition of emerging painters.
This year’s winners were judged by senior artists and trainers including Durriya Kazi, Mansoor Rahi, RM Naeem and Sana Arjumand. Kazi, who spoke on behalf of the other judges, said that the quality of work this year was quite high. Thus, it was quite difficult to narrow down the winners from the 134 entries which they had received. As a result, she said that they had to hold five rounds to shortlist the winners. Apart from Dahri, those who were awarded on the night were Amna Manzoor, who came in second and received a prize of Rs150,000, Naqsh Raj came in third and was handed a prize of Rs100,000. Javed Iqbal Mughal came in fourth and received a prize of Rs50,000.
While the ceremony was supposed to hand out four prizes, two additional prizes were announced and handed out by Senator Sherry Rehman, who was the chief guest for the event. The additional prizes were given to Syed Hussain and Bushra Khalid, who were awarded Rs50,000 each.
Earlier Rehman, who is an ardent art fan and collector, noted that the artists emerging from this group of winners would go on to make the future of art in the country.
She added that all paintings included in the exhibition were impressive and that there was not a single painting which could be considered as weak. Rehman appreciated promotion of art through the award which would encourage, promote and support young artists.
“It is wonderful that it [the award] is bringing in such a diverse range of talent and we hope that this prize ceremony grows and yields a million flowers,” the senator said.
"Good art is arresting. Great art is transformative. Pakistani contemporary art is popping with the sizzle of creativity," she added.
Usama Arjumand, director of Gallery 6 said that “the key purpose of the award was to emphasise the importance of classical painting among new, emerging and recently established artists. At the same time, it had filled a void for the appreciation and recognition of outstanding emerging painters.”
Dr Arjumand Faisel, curator and owner of Gallery 6, explained his vision for the award and talked about the impact it had made.
In addition to the awards, 74 selected works of artists were also exhibited in PNCA’s gallery 7 and 10. The exhibition will continue till May 21.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 13th, 2017.
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