Samina Alvi felicitates Pakistani floral art designers for sweeping flower show in Muscat

The Floral Art Society of Pakistan’s (FASP) Gardenia Chapter on Monday honoured its members for their achievements at the recently held flower show in Muscat.

The event titled ‘Bloom Oman’ was organised by the World Association of Floral Artists (WAFA) from January 27 to February 1. Delegates of floral designers from as many as eighteen countries, including Pakistan, attended the show.

Two delegates from Gardenia Chapter represented the FASP at the event. Shahimah Sayeed attended the show as delegate while Amtul Rauf Khan was one of the nine judges for the competition held at the event.

Twelve members from the Gardenia Chapter sent their exhibits for submission in three mail-in classes. Impressively, eleven of them managed to outshine other contenders in these categories, winning the prizes.

Qurratul Ain Aamir bagged the first prize in the ‘Chain Reaction - A Collage’ class, while Farah Aquil received the third prize in the same category.

In the ‘Designer’s Choice - A Handbag’ class, Fehmida Hashmi bagged the second prize and Salma Ansari won the third prize. Pakistan won all the three prizes in the ‘How Exquisitely Fine - Miniature’ category with Sofia Aijaz bagging the first prize, Salima Feroz second, and Kausar Sulaiman third prize.

Sabra Tufail, Naheed Shirazee, Nishat Kazmi, Riffat Moghal were awarded commendations. On Monday, first lady Samina Alvi presented accolades to the prize winners and delegates at a ceremony organised by the Gardenia Chapter at a local hotel.

Speaking on the occasion, she lauded the FASP for playing a crucial role in promoting floral art and holding such events to help appreciate timeless elegance of nature. “By organising floral art and horticulture events regularly, we can not only make our surroundings beautiful but also encourage our younger generation to participate in such healthy activities. Floral art and flora culture not only beautify our public places but also add colours and freshness to our surroundings,” she added.

Ms Alvi stressed that floral art was not just a hobby or a past time but a form of therapy beneficial to overall mental health. “Gardening and floral cultivation helps in managing stress, depression and anxiety,” she opined, adding that it was our collective responsibility to not only keep environment clean but also to promote activities that have a positive impact on our mental health.

She said that as per an estimate, around 24 per cent of the population suffered from some kind of mental issues and 80 per cent of them could not approach mental health professionals because of their paucity.

Besides, she maintained that such activities also promoted soft and progressive image of the country at global level and reminded that women in Pakistan had made a niche for themselves in this fine art.

The first lady called upon floral art designers to raise awareness about breast cancer, rights of persons with disabilities and mental health through their art. “I call upon everyone to raise awareness about self-examination and early diagnosis of breast cancer. Similarly, we need to talk about mental health and normalising seeking timely professional help. We need to create awareness about rights and facilitation of persons with disabilities.”

The first lady lauded Shahimah Sayeed for depicting the beauty and biodiversity of Pakistan’s underwater ecosystem in her country demonstration “The Coral Reefs of Pakistan” at the global flower show. She congratulated the eleven floral art designers for “sweeping” the contest.

Gardenia Chapter president Quratul Ain Aamir gave a demonstration on landscape style of floral design, which she said was inspired by Shangri-La, a place described in novel ‘Lost Horizon’ by James Hilton.

She said she depicted it in her design because the people were described as very healthy and having the lifespan of over a hundred years and the reason for their slow ageing was the place’s climate and closeness to nature.

At the start of the ceremony, Shahimah Sayeed, the Gardenia Chapter’s lifetime advisor who served the WAFA Pakistan president from 2005-2008, gave a presentation showing the exhibits and various activities held at the Bloom Oman event. She said she also acted as the art director of a demonstration by Phubast Chesdmethee, a renowned floral designer from Thailand, which featured a catwalk by models who wore phenomenal floral work as part of their attire.