The largest calligraphic exhibition in the capital opens

About 200 works, most of them for sale, are up on display at PNCA.

ISLAMABAD:

The largest calligraphy exhibition in the capital this Ramazan opened at Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) on Friday.

PNCA awarded a lifetime achievement award and an Ibn-e-Muqla Award. The top ten artists in the exhibition were also awarded prizes. Their work was judged by a jury comprising notables from the calligraphy community.

The exhibition at PNCA is an annual feature and is arranged in the last 10 days of Ramazan for the promotion of the calligraphic art form, according to a PNCA handout.

The exhibit presented a combination of both traditional styles and form along with showing modern creative and experimental renderings of both genres. Both amateur and seasoned artists were invited from across to participate in the massive exhibit, which features almost 200 art pieces.

The 91 artists exhibiting include Elahi Bux Mattee, Rasheed Butt, Saeed Akhtar, Aftab Ahmed Khan. Sadequain, Hafiz Muhammad, Yousaf Sadeedi, Syed Anwar Hussain, Nafees Raqam, Hanif Ramay, Shakir Ali and Gulgee.

The exhibition is worth seeing for the evolution of the calligraphic art form, from its very traditional form to the contemporary psychedelic representation of Quranic verses. Most of the pieces are up for sale.





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