Artwork of students delights visitors at painting show

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Culture and Tourism Authority (KPCTA) arranged an inter-universities painting competition at the historic Nishtar Hall here on Wednesday.

The aim of the exhibition titled the “Cultural journey of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’ was to present the culture of the province to the world through calligraphy and painting. It was also aimed at providing a proper platform to the young artists to display their artwork and gain encouragement and recognition in the field of arts, said a press release.

The exhibition displayed more than ninety-five art pieces of three different categories including painting, calligraphy and craft and sculptures from students of five universities - the City University, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University, Sarhad University, CECOS University and University of Peshawar.

Secretary Tourism, Culture and Archeology Department Muhammad Tahir Orakzai inaugurated the event. KPCTA Director General Bakhtiar Khan, Member of the Board of Directors of Tourism Authority Shamila Tabbasum, Manager Events Haseena Shaukat and other officials were also present.

Speaking at event, Tahir Orakzai said that organizing such kind of exhibition helped in promoting the culture of the province and also provided an opportunity to students to exhibit their skills on a public platform.

He praised the KPCTA for organizing the exhibition and said that more activities of such nature should be organized on a larger scale in future.

DG Tourism Authority Bakhtiar Khan said that it was the first phase of art exhibition, focusing on the universities of Peshawar to present their skills. “We will further extend the activity to other districts of the province,” he pledged.

Fahad Ahmed of University of Peshawar (UOP) got first position, Kamran Sahib of UOP and Sambhal Gul of Benazir Women University got second position. In the calligraphy category, Misbah Rehman of UOP got first position and Hafsa Gul of UOP got second position.

In the craft and sculpture category, Muhammad Asim UOP got first position and Mudassir Tufail of CECOS University stood second. The excelling students were awarded cash prizes of Rs20,000 and Rs10,000 along with commendation certificates.

The students thanked the officials of KPCTA and said that the exhibition was a great opportunity to interact with the art students of other universities.