My first stop was at Takshila, the South Asian Centre of Literature and Performing Arts to cover the preview of the painting exhibition by Nahida Raza.People from all walks of life had gathered for the event. I met Leila Zuberi, the Director of Takshila, and asked her to introduce me to the artist.
While talking to the artist, she said that she got her inspiration through doing social work for a long period of time. She further explained that the problems and the turbulent life being faced by the female gender are reflected in her work. The paintings portray emotions and feelings gathered from different areas of life. There are 29 exhibits on display that took her 8 months to complete. She is a professional painter who started on this journey four years back. She has participated in four group exhibitions whereas the present one is her first solo. She got her formal training in arts from Islamabad College, F7/2 and she has been working with the renowned artist, Mansoor Rahi, for the last seven years. It takes sometime three months and sometime just hours to complete one painting depending on the mood and inspiration. Talking about the colours in her paintings she said that she plays with colours as these invite her. The manner in which she explained about the colours, it made me remember one of the rubayiat of Omar Khayyam that has been translated into English by Edward Fitzgerald that I'll share with you. It goes like this:
The moving finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy piety nor wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a line,
Nor all thy tears wash out a word of it.
My second calling was to the opening of the painting exhibition by Rashid Khan. Xavier Lagorce. The Director of the Alliance Francaise said in a press release that he was happy to announce the latest exhibition at the Alliance. The artist, Rashid Khan is no newcomer to Islamabad or the Alliance Francaise. A very successful exhibition was held here in February 2000.
The background on Rashid is that he was born in Lahore and initially studied in National College of Arts, where he received numerous certificates and diplomas. He then went on to do Masters in Mass Communication and various other certificates ranging from journalism to human resource management before continuing with art as his chosen field. He has held many exhibitions on various subjects. Apart from portraits he has specialized in the serene and beautiful landscape of the northern regions of Pakistan. The artist has captured the majesty and awe of the rugged mountains, which have been depicted with powerful strokes and soothing colours all in harmony with great ease. The talented artist gives us the opportunity to experience his diverse skill in the field of art. There are 34 exhibits on display.
Talking about his work, Rashid said that he has made a major shift from portraits with an interlude of paintings on Islamic history, calligraphy and now he is doing landscapes. He explained that he does on spot painting, as he is not a studio painter. He feels that doing landscapes is more enjoyable, realistic and closer to nature. The inspiration is the nostalgic remembrance of Islamabad when it had more greenery in comparison to the denuded look it has now due to construction of high-rise buildings. This is his 38th solo show. He did his graduation in 1975 and his first participation in an exhibition was way back in 1979.After that he has been taking part in various shows almost continuously. It has taken him two years to complete the present exhibits. He loves to paint and has had training from Italy and France as well but due to financial constraints he cannot opt for painting as a full time career. Painting for him is a passion and he will continue to work as a part time artist.
It was a goodly gathering of people at the French Cultural Center but why do I always feel that most of the people gathered at the Alliance are more interested in partaking the refreshments and snacks rather than viewing the paintings. The Alliance is doing a wonderful job in the cultural arena of the Capital.
The third event that I covered for this week was 'Dialogue on Art' arranged by the Pakistan National Council of Arts - PNCA at the National Art Gallery. Eminent photographer Naseer Malik gave an interesting talk that comprised of his childhood years, life experiences and art of paintography interspersed with funny and exhilarating jokes.
The introduction of the art of paintography in Pakistan is credited to the renowned photographer way back in the 1980s. Speaking about paintography, he said that the medium best illustrates the relationship between art and science. It is conglomeration of the art of photography, the computer technology as well as plain common sense. He felt that paintography is an evocative medium that has been used by the photographers to evolve into fine art photography as a contemporary style in artwork.
Naseer Malik was of the view that there was a lot of scope in the application of paintographic medium in Pakistan.It is being used successfully in commercial advertising and it is being taught at the Fatima Jinnah Women's University by Naseer Malik. He suggested that it should be adopted as a comprehensive course of study at all the art institutions.
Narrating his life experiences, he mentioned a number of people who had influenced his life. However, one was his disciplined and austere father who taught him respect for labour while he living in such a manner that it made Naseer evolve into a self made individual for attaining peace and serenity in life.
All in all the talk was very absorbing and it gave one the opportunity to peep into Naseer Malik's life with the inspirations and struggles faced by him. It revived the debate on interdependence between art and science.
The week ended on a note of trying to juggle numerous responsibilities simultaneously and I thought I would not be able to get the time to write this piece. As I do the closing, I'm happy that I was able to complete it in time. The youth are busy doing their assessments in the anticipation of a long summer vacation with a break in the routine drudgery of studies.
Rashid Khan's exhibit at the Alliance Franciase, Islamabad.
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