Captivating images at annual calligraphy exhibition

Seventy masterly artistic works adorned the walls of the Manzar Akbar Hall of the Karachi Arts Council on the occasion of a two-day annual calligraphy exhibition on Friday evening.

All the works by young artists spoke of their deep-seated consciousness of Almighty Allah. The works centering around the concept of God and the universe were highly inspirational and consolidated the view that in every human being, there is a strong divine element, whether he is aware of it or not.

The subjects were Quranic verses interpreted in captivating colour schemes and artistry. The works had been done up by 47 artists.

While all the works were highly artistic and spoke of the immense talent of the artists, some stood out even among these.

There was one of the Ayatul Kursi by Saim Hussain. The name of Almighty Allah formed the nucleus of the painting, and then in concentric circles were the contents of the verse. The colour scheme was so captivating , so soothing to the eye.

It was really so inspirational and so surreal in content that it gave the viewer the feeling of another divine world. It was an oil-on-canvas.

Then there was another oil-on-canvas by Uzma Umar, titled, “Allah Hu Abkar”, It is a beautiful form of the words “God is Great” etched against a backdrop of a beautiful floral pattern of harmoniously blending colours.

Inaugurating the exhibition, Karachi Arts Council President Ahmed Shah said, “Our first preference in our new scheme of things is fine arts.”

He said that there would be three state-of-the-art galleries pertaining to fine arts in the new building that had just been completed. The present building, he said, would be turned into an art school.

A large number of noted artists, many of them graduates of the prestigious National College of Art, Lahore, had volunteered to teach at the institute. “This is no age of mediocrity. Mediocrity has no place in the present world,” Shah said.

He announced that there would also be a national exhibition encompassing artists from all over the country. Earlier, Qudsia Akbar, chairperson of the Fine Arts Council, welcomed the guests and the artists. The ceremony ended with the distribution of certificates among the artists.