Youthful exuberance: Art and music competition exposes nation’s abundance of talent

Judges impressed by originality, diversity of participants.

ISLAMABAD:

The lobby outside Serena Hotel’s Sheesh Mehal had a distinctly aesthetic look to it on Saturday afternoon, marking the first anniversary of the hotel’s SerenArts program with an art and music competition.

Young artists exhibited their work to judges from the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture and the National College of Arts (NCA).

Overall, 77 pieces were on display, whose themes were built around three famous literary quotes, namely Shakespeare’s “all the world is a stage,” Sylvia Plath’s “I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery” and Scarlett O’Hara’s “after all, tomorrow is another day” from the classic film Gone With The Wind.

The ink-based paintings, which included landscapes, surrealist renditions of spirituality and abstract explorations, served as
visual interpretations of the quotes.

The judges were inherently drawn to the ones layered in narrative, as opposed to pieces that were merely pleasing to the eye.

Quddus Mirza, one of the judges and a professor at NCA, said the competition served as a reminder of the nation’s immense artistic talent.

Alina Akbar, a third year student at NCA Rawalpindi, achieved first prize for her conceptual exploration of Plath’s quote, portraying a human head as it experienced the sensation of a bee sting.

“The bee, which has stung the individual and is now reaching for the fresh flower above, is symbolic of the quest and realisation of happiness,” said Akbar.

Second and third prizes went to Saad Azmat of Hunerkada and Sana Shahid of NCA respectively, while two consolation prizes from each literary category were also given out.

In the music competition, judges Arieb Azhar and Zoe Viccaji were witness to eight bands who took on the challenge of performing original compositions.

The performers ranged from two-person troupes to full-fledged bands, of which there were many familiar faces.

“It was a difficult decision because there were so many genres and different arrangements of musicians,” said Viccaji.

Saakin, a two-person group who performed ‘Aslam bhai,’ a song about economic disparity, was a unanimous choice for first place. Hasnain and Zeeshan came second while Maria and Danish occupied the third spot.

The competition was arranged under the aegis of Serena Environmental Education Development (SEED), which promotes young talent and provides winners future endorsement opportunities.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 31^st, 2013.