Paintings’ by four artists on display

Lahore: Prof Sajida Wandal, vice-chancellor of Institute of Art & Culture, inaugurated the four young artists’ group exhibition of paintings titled “Presents of Present” at Ejaz Art Galler, M.M Alam Road, on Wednesday.

Past builds the present and the present shapes our future. The only defining phase is the present; that reflects the history and projects the future, which is why the exhibition has been titled as ‘Haal ke Tohfay’ or the presents of present.

It is about the celebration of the present in relation to the past and future. The richness of the present due to the layers of the past and time happenings and the present’s occupation with the construction of the future is the main focus of these four artists.

Muhammad Sulaman, one of the four artists, works on his personal experiences of his surroundings, while raising a point that our colonial and regional history is making us bound with a single point of view on the world which eventually causes our behavioural issues. On the other hand, Sana Saeed is talking about that nostalgia of the past, feeling that reminds us of events and places in regards to past. She explores the space between the present and past which holds more significance for us sometimes. Rizwan Ali is our third artist; he is manipulating historical elements from two different cultures to create a different narrative. I think it allows him to talk about our current multicultural present which is very much effected with our past. However, Hira Sidduqui is taking elements from different historical paintings and creating a different dialog or narrative.

Although the elements of history or the past are having an important aspect in this exhibition but they together are talking about our present state which everyone is facing in their surroundings.