Art attack: Degree show display wows art aficionados

Media urged to promote students’ work.

LAHORE:

National College of Arts (NCA) Principal Murtaza Jafri said on Saturday that the media should promote work of students from the college’s production design department.

He was speaking at a degree show mostly featuring the work of undergraduate students from the NCA.  Jafri said he wanted the media to promote the work of students from the department to ensure that their work got the recognition it merited. “A student has designed a product for visually impaired students. I think the product should go to the market,” he said. Jafri said he wanted everyone viewing the show to see the work of students from the department.

“The work presented this time around is fantastic,” he said. Jafri said the work displayed was better than past years. He said the fact that students from the fine arts department had used multimedia demonstrated that mediums had changed. “The kids (students) had earlier worked only with paint and brush. Now they are receptive to the idea of using new tools to present their work,” Jafri said.

He said this could also be observed in the work of students from the textile design department. “One would not be able to find typical work limited to thread in the department’s display. Students have even used items like matchsticks to create multidimensional works.” Jafri said students from all over the nation studied at the college. “One can see magic take place here once everything culminates,” he said.

Amina Qayyum Mirza, an architect, said she had come to buy art for her house. She said the work displayed was very interesting. Mirza said she had observed a lot of drama and passion in the work. “This is because people do not want to hide behind colours any longer,” she said. Mirza said people now wanted to call a spade a spade.

Art consultant Ambereen Karamat said the show was exceptional. She said some great new techniques had been presented in the works being displayed at the show. “Artists are now really using innovative ways of expressing themselves,” Karamat said.

National College of Arts Rawalpindi Fine Arts Department Head Nida Batool Hussain said she had been impressed by the work on show. “The students have worked really hard on their pieces and it shows,” she said. Batool said the manner in which the work had been put together, displayed and curated was worthy of being appreciated.

The show, which features the work of students from 13 departments, was inaugurated by Iranian Consul General Muhammad Hussain Bani Asadi. He was accompanied by Khana-i-Farhang (Iranian Cultural Centre) Director Genereal Agha Akbar Barkhordari.

The show will conclude on February 18.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 15^th, 2015.