Margalla crash: Plane model protests investigations

Fibre glass used to highlight the need for transparency, says the artist.

LAHORE:

The crash of a private company’s airplane in Islamabad’s Margala Hills inspired Ayesha Zulfiqar Sheikh, a lecturer at National College of Arts, to design the 20-feet tall model of an airplane on display at Zahoorul Akhlaq Gallery.

Sheikh said that the crash investigations remain a mystery.

She said she wrapped fibre glass around paper mache and left it for the mache to dry and fibre glass to take its shape.

The structure was suspended from several points. The artist said she used fibre glass on purpose because she wanted to keep the model transparent.

“This is to highlight the demand that the AirBlue plane crash’s investigations should be made public,” she said. She said she had earlier made smaller models of aeroplanes for her master’s thesis at NCA.

The model is named APBAN after a military plane Alpha Papa Bravo Alpha November.

Nosheen Saeed, a professor at NCA, said she was amazed at the level of detail in the model.

She said she hoped Sheikh would continue producing similar work.

Hashim Umair, a visitor, said the work at most art exhibitions he had attended was vague.

However, he said, Sheikh’s model communicated with the observer straight away. He said working with fibre glass was difficult but the artist had handled it very well. The exhibition will continue till April 30.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 28^th, 2011.