LAHORE:An exhibition of calligraphy titled “Loh-o-Qaalam” was inaugurated at Alhamra Art Gallery, The Mall, on Thursday.
The exhibition was inaugurated by Provincial Minister for Finance Makhdoom Jawan Bakht along with Lahore Arts Council BOG Chairperson Moneeza Hashmi and Alhamra Executive Director Saman Rai. The minister praised the artists and termed the art of calligraphy an intellectual legacy of Muslims. He said people would be encouraged to learn the art of calligraphy. The event features the works of traditional and contemporary artists in the field of calligraphy in various styles and scripts.
A total number of 160 works of art by more than 100 artists from across the country are on display. There are two categories in the exhibition, one is the Quranic art and the other based on poetry. This exhibition showcased the works from eminent calligraphers of Pakistan such as Khursid Alam Gauhar, Abdul Rehman, Khalid Siddiqui, Aslam Kamal, Shaukat Ali Minhas Zari Qaalam, Jamil Khan, Wajid Mehmood, Munnawar Islam, Amir Manzoor and Irfan Qureshi. The exhibited works are a great blend of traditional and modern art. Calligraphers used all five Khats – Nastaleeq, Naskh, Sulus, Deewani and Khat-e-Kufi – in their beautiful artworks.
One of the most interesting features of the exhibition is that for the first time, a series of five-day calligraphy workshops have been held. On the first day of workshop Irfan Ahmad Qureshi, Khalid Mehmood Siddiqui, on the second day Khurshid Alam Gohar Qalam, Jamil Hassan Nafisi, Shaukat Minhas, on the third day, Aslam Iqbal, Shafiq Farooqi, Akasha Mujahid, on the fourth day Zulfiqar Ali Zulfi, Asghar Ali and the fifth day, Abdul Rehman Abdu and Nasir Khan will teach the art of calligraphy to the participants in detail. And on the sixth day, a children's workshop has also been organizing.
Executive Director Saman Rai said that Calligraphy is a master of all arts that is full of rhythm and harmony. Rai said that this exhibition and workshop is meant to take this art form to a higher level as it would gather the works of those who have painted this art with a deep love of the calligraphy. Rai further expressed that, for the promotion of our national Khat, first-time Alhamra has organized a competition, in which more than 40 artists across the country has participated in which 6 candidates got select for the final round of the competition.
And the first winner will get the cash prizes of 50 thousand, the second position will get 30 thousand, and the 3rd one will get 20 thousand. Rai further said that Alhamra would try its best to promote the art of calligraphy, as it has the highest status in the Islamic world.
Information Officer Samreen Bukhari said that the art of calligraphy is thousands of years old and artists have managed to bring innovation in this form of art with the time which was very much visible in this exhibition. Through such shows Alhamra aspires to bring more opportunities and such platforms to the local calligraphers of other cities to get their skills recognized and appreciated, she added.
Speaking on the occasion calligrapher, Irfan Ahmed Qureshi said that this exhibition is an incomparable blend of modern and traditional calligraphy art. He said that in calligraphy, it is very important to promote the national Khat, Khat-Nastaleeq. For that Alhamra arranged a calligraphy competition as well so that the authors of Khat-Nastaleeq are being promoted and can be recognized at the national and international level.
He further said that for the competition artists from all over the country participated, out of which six artists were selected from Karachi, Pindi, Chaman, Gujrawala, Patoki and Queeta. This competition and workshop is an important step in acknowledging and promoting the art of calligraphy.
For that I would like to thank the Executive Director Alhamra Saman Rai, who took this step and organized this exhibition, he added. A large number of art enthusiasts came to see the show held to celebrate the Islamic Art of Calligraphy. The exhibition will remain open till 24th September 2020.