Obituary reference for late cartoonist Anwar Ali, four exhibitions of arts and ceramics, launching of book on Lahore and a seminar on book publishing were the highlights of cultural activities in Lahore during the week under review.
Glowing tributes were paid to late cartoonist Anwar Ali at a obituary reference held in his memory at National College of Arts on November 28 at which senior members from the fraternity of journalists, intellectuals and Litterateurs took part.
Late Anwar Ali was creator of immortal cartoon character Nanna, which he drew for 'The Pakistan Times' for well over 30 years, was the pioneer of the art of cartoon making in Pakistan. Beginning his career with DAWN, in 1946 when it was published from New Delhi, he came to settle in Lahore a few months before the creation of Pakistan.
His contributions to journalism and as a short story writer were applauded at the commemorative meeting at which the senior journalist of the country F.E. Chaudhry was the Chief Guest. Speakers recall their interactions and professional experiences with the late Anwar Ali.
Both in his cartoons as well as short stories of which three collections were published during his life time late Anwar Ali proved his ebullient ability to convey so much with so few a words and lines of his drawings. He stood for an equitable social order in which there would be no class distinction and discrimination on the basis of religion, caste and creed. He died in Lahore on November 27, 2004.
Two exhibitions of paintings and one each of sculpture and ceramics were held in Lahore during the past week. On November 27 Mahwish Khan held her solo exhibition title 'Half Circle' at the Art Gallery of Lahore Arts Council, which continued till December 5.
The inauguration of the exhibition comprising 50 works was attended by a number of art students, connoisseurs and critics. A graduate from National College of Arts, she has experience of teaching art in a leading local school. Prior this solo exhibition she has taken part in several group exhibitions. Through her paintings Mahwish has portrayed the constrained life of a woman by showing her in a box the walls of which points to the impediments in her life with which she had to compromise.
Muhammad Fokhrul Islam, a Bangladeshi artist presented his works in a solo exhibition at Hamail Art Gallery. Earning his BFA ceramics (degree from the Fine Arts University, Dhaka) Islam has a number of exhibitions to his credit, which were held in Germany, Italy, India, Denmark and Bangladesh. The visiting Bangladeshi artist refrains from passing judgement on artwork. "If my works, which are put on display here make one feels a little better than before watching these and if they make you smile I shall regard myself as an accomplished artist", he said.
Kaif Ghazanvi's exhibition of ceramics was inaugurated at the art gallery of National College of Arts on December 2. "I have been working with coils in conjunction with wheel thrown forms", says Kaif, adding, "The basic idea of the forms started with numerous thin coils crushed together to build an abstract shape, which was in contrast with the very intentional and finely thrown shapes. The variations in textures of the two techniques hold their respective meaning. All I can say about my work is a statement that I read somewhere and which explains my concept fairly well - 'Beauty lies in a mere cut'.
On December 3 an exhibition of ceramics by Shazia Mirza opened at Alliance Francaise de Lahore. The unusual thing about her new work is the technique RAKU, which is an intricate and hazardous procedure involving taking out the kiln and dunking into cold water. The artist has already exhibited her works at Aix-en-Provence, France in October 2003. A graduate from the National College of Arts Shazia Mirza has participated in eight group shows in Lahore.
The five-day long Iranian Film Festival, which was sponsored jointly by NCA and the Cultural Center of Islamic Republic of Iran, opened at the National College of Arts. Consul General of Islamic Republic of Iran Muhammad Khodadi, visiting professor of film making from Iran, Muhammad Shahba and Principal Sajida Vandal of NCA attended the film festival.
Daily a film in Persian with English subtitle was shown for five days. Dr Shahba said that movies were an important media source to remove all the misunderstandings among the Muslim Ummah as well as the rest of the world. He urged movie-makers in Pakistan to carefully study the Iranian techniques and produce films, which like the Iranians, are subject oriented.
On November 29 a seminar of related to problems of book publishing was held at Quaid-e-Azam Library. The participants stressed the need for reducing the prices of books, which was necessary for the inculcation of reading habits among the people. Currently, books are beyond the reach of the students and middle class citizens.
"Beloved City: Writings on Lahore" is the name of the book, which was launched in Lahore on November 27 at a much hyped inaugural ceremony. It is an amalgam of essays, chronicles and stories written by different authors from Lahore, who lived here for more than half of their lives. Some of them are still living. Bapsi Sidhwa, who has contributed a touching introduction of the book has attempted to look at Lahore through the eyes of the people and takes the readers to a journey of discovery. The book, which begins with a sentimental poem by Allama Muhammad Iqbal titled 'On the banks of River Ravi' contains essays by Bapsi Sidhwa, Khushwant Singh, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Rudyard Kipling, Mohsin Hamid and many other famous writers.
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