An engaging performance by Chinese folklore/dance group was one of the major cultural events in Lahore during this past week.
Other noteworthy events were three exhibitions of paintings and wood sculpture, the launch of an autobiography of a former Governor of West Pakistan and the observance of first death anniversary of comedian Rangeela.
A 32-member dance and folklore troupe from Xinjiang Ulghar Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China (a Muslim majority area) enthralled a packed auditorium of art lovers with their performance at Lahore Arts Council on May 25.
The attendees were carried away by the beat of drums and songs into Xinjiang, a place known for colourful dances, songs and folklore. The music from this city mirrored "the culture of different ethnic groups and contained profound philosophical ideas". Called the 'mother of Uygur music' the male dance from this region is unrestrained, vigorous and rhythmic, while female dance as demonstrated by the Chinese troupe was more graceful and agile.
The Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China has a great variety of national dances and songs such as 'Shaking shoulders' that is performed with changeable gait, the funny Kumzi performance, the entertaining Kirgiz dance and songs. For Muslims of this region the most important traditional festivals are Korban festival (greater Bairam) and Rozah Festival (lesser Bairam). During the festival the people in ethnic minorities prepare a variety of food, dress in their best and greet one another with great feelings.
At Croweater's Gallery a selection of the most recent paintings on handmade paper along fabrics with woodblock printing designed of artist Mobina Zuberi is currently on display. "In both", observed an art critic, "the viewers will find her (artist's) limited visual vocabulary and that forms and outlines bring to mind Suprematist painting made in Russia during the early years of the twentieth century".
A group painting exhibitions comprising the works of 13 foreign and Pakistan artists was put on display at the Lahore Arts Council on May 23. Titled Places Real and Imagined: the Landscape in Contemporary Art, it portrayed, in the words of Professor Nazish Ataullah, 'new horizons in landscape painting' as against the depiction of beauty of nature, including trees, mountains, rivers, valleys, deserts and the forest, which is the motivation for landscape paintings.
Sophie Ernst from the Netherlands and Ellen Harvey, Perry Hu and Patricia Thornley from New York were foreign artists and Ahmed Ali, Imran Channa, Ahsan Jamal, Hasnat Mahmood, Hadia Moiz, Safdar Qureshsi, Rashid Rana, Lala Rukh and Maryam Sohail were among Pakistani painters whose works were put on display.
In the opinion of the art curator of the exhibition "One would find the depiction of society varying from such diverse areas politics to human psychology and personal feeling in the works of participating artists". One of the features of the exhibition was that computer graphics had been used in their making.
Twenty-five works of young painters were included an exhibition, which was put on display at Nairang Art Gallery this past week. The exhibition remained open for public viewing till May31. Among the content of the exhibition, Nadia Ramzan's control on forms, texture and colour was more in evidence, whereas Faiza Cheema displayed how skilfully she could handle compositions. The paintings of Aqeel Solangi showed his command on drawing and a realistic handling of oil paints in a mixed medium.
The Zahoor-ul Akhlaq Art Gallery of the National College of Arts served as the venue for the holding of an exhibition on May 26 of art works created in a workshop of "Felt Making", which will remain open till June 3. The exhibition comprised the works of 19 artists-in-the-making. Felting is one of the oldest textile forms in which wool from steeps is directly used for felt making. Later it is carded by hands or big combs and dyed by wool colours. Then by different methods of treating the fiber of wool becomes interlaced. This art is thought to have originated in Asia. There are some original pieces of felting were found in Central Asia, some of which are estimated to be 5000 years old. Felt has been used for making hats, wall coverings, boots, blankets, yurts and many more things.
An exhibition of wooden sculptures built by Qaiser Khan, a graduate from and a teacher at the National College of the Arts, opened at the Croweater's Art Gallery on May 27 Titled "Lekaey", it contained 30 works of the artist, who seemed to be enamoured of wood, its grain and organic nature. His three dimensional forms tinged with subtle curves seemed serene, pure and in agreement with nature.
Hardly the fans of late comedian Rangeela finished the observance of his first death anniversary in Lahore, the Pakistan film industry lost its yet another leading artiste Adeeb, who breathed his last on May 26 after suffering a heart attack. Muzaffar Ahmed better known as Adeeb, he made his debut in Pakistan in 1956 by enacting an important role in S.M. Yusuf's film 'Pakdaman'. Earlier, he also performed a role in the film 'Footpath' in Bombay. Born in Kashmir and raised and educated in Bombay, he migrated into Pakistan in 1962, where his first film out of some 200 films was 'Daal Mein Kala'.. He worked for both Urdu and Punjabi films produced in Karachi and Lahore.
The launching ceremony of the autobiography of Lieutenant General M. Attiqur Rehman's book 'Back to the Pavilion' was held in a local hotel on May 24 with Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool in chair. A number of speakers representing different walks of life spoke on the occasion.
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