First Karachi Art Festival celebrated in city

Two-day festival concludes

With an objective to bring art into the public domain, the two-day Karachi Art Festival (KAF) concluded on Sunday. The festival provided accessible platforms for art interactivity.

The programme encompassed art discourse attended by art critics, historians, collectors and curators and the general public. Tauqeer Muhajir, editor of Nigaah stressed that by actively encouraging social involvement and developing diverse cultural activities, KAF is not about elitism but inclusion of the general public. He promised that KAF would be an annual affair.

A sitting with artist Feica with Nauman Nabi Ahmed turned out to be a fascinating session with Feica drawing live caricatures and throwing light on his journey of drawing cartoons. The signed cartoons drawn by Feica were a rare treat for the participants. Equally entertaining was a session, 'Art and Rumi' in which Rasheed Noorani kept the audience amused with this eloquent narration of Rumi's poetry.

For the younger artists, a live segment with Akbar Zia encouraged the youth to observe and sketch caricatures. Live CD painting by Saadia Sohail produced many different designs to create amazing pieces of art. The students of Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture painted a mural live at the venue for two days, which was later auctioned with proceeds being donated by Nigaah for scholarships for needy art students.



Besides the traditional handmade ajrak and tile works by Yaqoob and Ghulam Haider Doudpota, the public at large came across truck art paraphernalia by Anjum Rana and items of interest at All Pakistan Women's Association stalls. For book lovers, Liberty Books, OUP, Vasl and Mohatta Palace had interesting reads on art.

One of the major segments that continued to draw large numbers was the art display by many art galleries inside the halls coupled with Jamil Naqsh Museum. Works of emerging and established artists were up for sale. A special dark room was developed that featured the work of Karachi School of Art, titled, 'Déjà Vu Chronicles'. The show featured a kaleidoscopic spectrum of lights on whirling vertex like Chakras in holograms.