CAC exhibition: Cranes travel east for the earthquake

Each crane collected will generate $2 for Japan relief.

KARACHI:

As Japan picks up the pieces after a devastating earthquake hit the country almost a month ago, the Commune Artists Colony (CAC) hosted an exhibition to show Pakistan’s solidarity.

They launched ‘Asahi’ — Japanese for ‘rising sun’ — on Saturday. It is open for the public from 11 am to 6 pm till April 15.

Yousuf Bashir Qureshi of the CAC said the exhibition is a “gesture of compassion for the brave people of Japan in their time of need”. The Japanese gallery corresponding with the CAC refused to accept the commission generated — instead they wanted paper cranes.

People attending the show were asked to write goodwill messages on paper cranes that will be collected and shipped to Japan. The gallery receiving them will give $2 for every crane into a fund for rehabilitation. They collected roughly 600 cranes at the opening night.

Artists Arif Mehmood, Abdul Jabbar Gul, Imam Raja, Imran Zeb, Farrukh Shahab, Nurayah Sheikh Nabi, Hadia Moiz, Yousuf Bashir Qureshi, Malika Abbas, Marvi Malik, Martin Williams, Haroon Ahmed and Shahida Ahmed put their work up for sale at the show.

Arif Mehmood’s bird footprints in the sand were well received. While Bashir’s mixed media artwork sold quickly. His two pieces were priced at Rs55,00 and Rs40,000.

The exhibition displayed a wide variety of prints, graphics, sculptures and paintings. At Rs130,000, Shahida Ahmed’s ‘Remnants of Creation’ stoneware sculptures were the most expensive items by a considerable margin.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 11^th,  2011.