Gallery launch: New space for artistic reflections

Creative duo launch the venture in the quaint Potohari Arts and Crafts village.

ISLAMABAD:

The Potohari Arts and Crafts village, an aesthetic treasure largely underutilised since its launch in early 2012, has been revived through the spirited young couple, Kiran Masud and Mian Mohsin Masud. Their diligence and appreciation for the arts unraveled at the opening of their gallery and art space Aqs on Thursday evening.

The rustic façade of the building, uniform with the terracotta appearance of its neighbouring structures, lends an element of surprise upon first glance of the gallery, whose interior is an experience as riveting as the art that adorns its walls. Hence, the presence of the 81 pieces is enhanced through the richness of the space.



The collection on display  is representative of a range of local artists, from the familiar styles of renowned artists Mansoor Rahi, Hajra Mansoor, Humera Ghaznavi Ejaz and Hasnat Mehmood, to the more daring canvases of fresh art graduates such as Hira Rafi, Nazir Hunzai, Rabia Malik and Amal Javed among others. Several sculptures were propped on pedestals, inviting much the same attention as the walls, including the pad-locked shoes alluding to nomadic existence by Ali Abbas, who finds beauty amidst silence and roars.

“There is a need to educate people about art,” said Hajra Mansoor, explaining that the slowness of creative evolution within the country needed to be challenged through originality and a better understanding of and patronage for such aesthetics.



For 24-year-old sculptor Nazir Ahmed, this gallery is an opportunity for young aspiring artists to announce themselves to peers, mentors and patrons.

“I think that more young artists should be exhibited,” he said, lingering near his watercolour and pencil rendition of a male figure engrossed in meditation, though small cubes and circles rising from inside the flesh suggest the juxtaposition of materialism at odds with the desire for contentment inherent within human beings. Ahmed, a graduate of the National College of Art in Rawalpindi, expressed excitement at the opening of a private gallery with the architecture and space which was unique to government-owned art galleries but without its outmoded aesthetic.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 22^nd, 2013.