Visual treat: Arts bring communities closer, says Alexander Malik

Alhamra’s 11th annual arts exhibition opens

LAHORE: “Art reduces social exclusion and isolation in a society making communities more strong,” Bishop Alexander Malik said on Thursday.

He was speaking at the opening of Alhamra’s 11th annual arts exhibition, titled About Time, at the Lahore Arts Council. The exhibition features the work of 287 artists in a wide mix of paintings, sculptures, ceramics and graphic arts.

A jury, including RM Naeem, Sadaf Chughtai and Rahat Naveed, chose 10 young student artists for outstanding work.

They were presented a cash award of Rs10,000 each by the Bishop.

Bishop Malik appreciated the team at Alhamra for promoting arts despite receiving threats on the occasion of the Lahore Literary Festival.

He recalled that a museum in Iraq had been destroyed due to militant activities there.

The work on display ranges from traditional miniature art and oil canvas to experiments with materials such as cement on canvas.

Iqra Azeem one of the recipients of the award, says that in her work she has tried to depict hypocrisy in society. Her work shows various animals dressed as characters of a card game.

A chimpanzee is dressed as the jack of clubs. Insects are also creeping up on these characters.

“Insects are a metaphor for people who harm those who are different,” she told The Express Tribune.

Noorul Huda, another award recipient, has made a portrait of her father. She says she uses different patterns and strokes in the background.

Sarah Anwar, a visitor, said the work on display showed the amount of artistic talent the country was blessed with. She said she had found a number of pieces extremely interesting.

Curator Tanya Suhail said young artists had been give awards to encourage them. She admitted that ‘young artist’ was a relative term. She said for the purposes of this event it was used to describe an artist still in the process of self discovery.

The exhibition will continue until May 10 from 9am to 6pm.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 10^th, 2015.