Hazara calligraphers win big at international contest

Three students of renowned master calligrapher prove their artistic skills

HARIPUR:

Three renowned calligraphers from Haripur came out as winners among a total of 22 countries participating in a calligraphy competition held in America.

The Islamic Arts Society (USA) has been organising an online exhibition for the past five years to spread the name of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) across the world. This year, a virtual exhibition was held in Houston, USA, under the theme "Expression of Devotion and Love for the Holy Prophet (PBUH)." Calligraphers and artists from 22 countries participated in the event, which was, for the first time, divided into two categories: Traditional and Modern Calligraphy.

Three calligraphers who were students of Pakistan's award-winning, international calligrapher, Ustad Muhammad Ilahi Bakhsh Matti, secured top positions, and brought recognition to their hometown, Hazara, Haripur, and Pakistan. Waqar Ahmed and Saad Mahmood won the second and fourth prizes respectively, in the traditional calligraphy category and Syed Zameerul Hassan Shah got third place in the modern calligraphy category.

Speaking to the media, the three distinguished calligraphers expressed gratitude to their mentor, who is an internationally acclaimed calligrapher whose masterpiece, Kalma Tayyaba, is inscribed on the National Assembly building of Pakistan. Ustad Muhammad Ilahi Bakhsh Matti had been honoured with the Presidential Award by General Pervez Musharraf.

Belonging to Haripur himself, Baksh has made sure that the art of calligraphy flourishes in the region under his guidance. Waqar Ahmed, Saad Mahmood, and Syed Zameer Hassan Shah pledged to continue making Pakistan and Haripur proud in the future.

They credited their success to their mentor's academy, where dozens of students are learning calligraphy, painting and other fine arts. However, they pointed out that many talented artists remain unrecognised due to lack of government patronage.