Exhibition of octogenarian Neyyar Ehsan Rashid's artistic calligraphy titled "Flowers of Devotion" of the names of the holy Prophet (PBUH) opened at Alhamra Art Gallery on the Mall Road here on Monday. The exhibition will remain open from 10.am till 5 pm daily. The work on the exhibits shown here, the one hundred names of the holy Prophet PBUH commenced nearly twenty years ago.
Based on her extensive knowledge of flowers, Neyyar Ehsan Rashid has painted images of a range of flowers to express her deep devotion to the various facets of the life of the holy Prophet (PBUM), she has endeavoured to match the qualities depicted in the numerous names with the characteristics of the various flowers through her artistic calligraphic representations.
The present paintings on the names of the holy Prophet (PBUH) have been compiled in the form of a book. Based on these paintings, the late Arif Mansoor Khan has provided poetic verses in Urdu which have simultaneously been presented in English by Dr Adrian Hussain and rend into Arabic by Abu Saleh Bablesi from Jordan. The renowned calligraphic Dr Nassar Mansour provided the Arabic Calligraphy.
Neyyar hoped that her artistic calligraphy along with poetic verses in Urdu, English and Arabic will be a source of inspiration for the mind and soul of the readers. In addition, two further projects are on display, which include eight calligraphic works of the Sura Fatehah and fifty paintings on the Sura Rehman.
Nearly 87 year old Neyyar Ehsan Rashid was born in Hyderabad (Deccabn) to Nawab Ahsan Yar Jang. From an early age she was tutored by the renowned teacher of calligraphy Ustad Shamshir Ali. Her interest in art grew over the years and she took regular instruction in drawing and oil painting from Ustad Abdul Qayyum specialising in portrait painting. In late 1949 she migrated to Pakistan.
Neyyar's significant master pieces include portrait of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the Quaid's office at the government house, Karachi. Quid's portrait in the Court Room 1 of the Supreme court, Portrait of Zhou En Lai, China's Prime Minister which was presented to him by late President Iskander Mirza on the occasion of his official visit to Pakistan in 1956. Portrait of King Hussain she personally presented in 1984.