A majestic ambiance of Ahmed Pervez Art Gallery of The Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi overwhelmed the visitors as a feeling of calmness and stillness prevail the environment of the gallery.
There were over fifty four calligraphic works of twenty one senior and eminent artists adorning the walls of the gallery showing the most attractive vivid and stylised letters and words in various calligraphic masterpieces highlighting Quranic verses and Islamic themes. The calligraphies are characterised by striking clarity, distinctness and true to words when perceived either by the eyes or the mind.
Senior Calligraphists of the country have been invited to participate in the exhibition which is a regular feature of Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi as a tribute to the holy month of Ramazan and to provide opportunity to young and master calligraphists to showcase their fresh works.
This year the calligraphic works of senior artists were included in the exhibition whereas last year the young and new calligraphers were given the chance to display their calligraphic works at the group show of Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi. The exhibition entertained the lovers of art of calligraphy to see the new trends in this field.
Love, appreciation and respect; these are the emotions which fills the hearts of viewers who attend the group calligraphic exhibition. Muslims have special feelings of ownership with this art form and love to project and promote this art with their sole refreshing thoughts.
The exhibition added colours to the spiritual, aesthetic ambience of the holy month of Ramazan. The recent calligraphy exhibition showed good efforts by curator Fasih Qureshi, which have great appeal to the masses and it can be judged by the number of visitors showed up at the gallery. The artists were mainly those whose art practices revolve around the genre of calligraphy.
The calligraphic works showed great variation in script and style from artist to artist. It is a good opportunity to witness such a variety of calligraphic art at the show. The signature styles of famous artists glorifying this art mesmerised the viewers.
All artists used different variations of Khat in their calligraphic works. They often combined illumination by using gold or silver leaf and painting elements like flowers and geometrical designs with the calligraphy.
For several centuries, the predominant style was Kufi, but it was a complicated script, however, difficult to read and thus, other more easily comprehensible scripts developed. And the calligraphers began using Khat-e-Nastaliq, Khat-e-Naskh, Khat-e-Diwani, Khat-e-Diwani Jali and Khat-e-Tuluth scripts in their calligraphic works. But Khat-e-Nastaliq, Khat-e-Naskh and Khat-e-Suls are more famously used by the world calligraphers.
The luminous, beautifully designed calligraphy shows the artists fusion of their personalities in their works which satisfy their creative endeavour. With a strong aesthetic appeal, brilliant use of colours and superb balance between design and form, their art of calligraphy creates an immediate visual impact.
One of the characteristic of Islamic art is a preference for covering and decorating surfaces with patterns composed of geometric or vegetal elements. But at the recent exhibition the use of multi-colours and vivid colours in calligraphic works was seen in abundance. Almost each of the calligraphic work was full of colours like a rainbow. But using different colours with skills and balance was the art practised by the artists keeping the aesthetic value of the works intact. Fasih Qureshi's nine colour serigraphy on canvas was an example of such use of colours in balance.
The exhibition included calligraphic works of senior and eminent artists: Waqar Fazal, Abdullah Sah, Ayesha Ahmed, Atif Ali, Munir Shah, Zaheer Zubair, Tamjeed Anjum, Akram Spaul, Aftab Zafar, Shakil Ismail, Fasih Qureshi, Fareed Durani, Saiful Islam, M. A. Bukhari, Zohaib Rind, Habib Bhopali, Liaquat Kiyani, Siraj Dehlvi, Nazeer Ahmed and Amin Gulgee.
The artists have chosen various mediums for their calligraphy from oil on canvas, ink and watercolour, mix media, acrylic, poster colour, and oil on wood to copper sculpture.
The visitors at the recent exhibition lauded artists for not only keeping the art of Islamic calligraphy alive but also for giving it impetus. Overall the exhibition is a delight for Islamic art lovers who can enjoy the works by various artists with different artistic leanings and varied skills.
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