Sportive art: This time, Abdoz Arts brings the game on

The company organises yet another mural painting event; this time to cheer for Team Green

KARACHI: A young boy donning a maroon beret and earthy green shalwar kameez was spraying paint on the wall. His effort started forming the outlines of the face of cricket heartthrob Shahid Afridi. At some distance, there was a complete painting of another cricketer Sarfaraz's face.

These murals were drawn on one side of a bridge in Block 7, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, near Usman Institute of Technology. The boys of Abdoz Arts, a non-profit company created by three university students with a mission to reclaim public walls to promote culture, organised this event as a gesture to cheer for our cricket team.



PHOTO: ABDOZ ARTS

"They are our players so we should support them and they should support us by playing well", said Saeed Channa, a second year student of architecture at Karachi University who was painting Afridi's face.

The team of artists working on the theme of World Cup were pooled in to lead this particular sports revival movement of sorts. The mural featured players like Afridi, Sarfaraz, Misbah and Irfan along with their popular slogans. A big 'Boom Boom' was imprinted in red and blue right next to Afridi's iconic face.

"The mural is targeting university students," said Abdoz founder Humble Tariq. "We are using sports as a uniting factor in an area that has a lot of universities around. The point is to give break to citizens in the midst of wall-chalking that exudes hate and sectarianism."



PHOTO: ABDOZ ARTS

According to Abdoz co-founder Umer Asim, the purpose of this mural was to send a message for the betterment of society as and when people pass by the wall. "People comment when you are working but it is okay because we have focused on painting," he said as two boys riding a motorcycle jeered at them. "This is part of the work."

Tariq added that the company is looking for sponsors so that more walls can be painted. "We are looking for companies that can help us as part of their CSR campaigns so that we can paint more walls," he said.