Iconic award recognises talent in style

Islamabad

Motivated by the need to revive and maintain interest in the classical art f1orm of painting, which is dwindling on account of excessive use of computers and other technologies in art, the Arjumand Painting Award 2017 unveiled new talent Thursday night at a gala art event held at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA).

Senator Sherry Rehman, an ardent art lover and art collector, was the chief guest at the ceremony, which featured an outstanding exhibition of 74 paintings by talented emerging artists from across Pakistan, followed by the eagerly awaited prize distribution ceremony. The Curator and owner of Gallery 6 surprised the audience by mentioning the reason for inviting Sherry Rehman as chief guest. “We have invited you as you are the only politician in Pakistan who has studied history of arts during your graduation years abroad,” he stated.

In addition to a large number of artists from various cities of Pakistan, the event attracted spectacular participation by art lovers, diplomats, parliamentarians, bureaucrats and distinguished citizens. Galleries 7 and 10 at PNCA, where the exhibition has been meticulously displayed, were buzzing with visitors in colourful dresses, cheerfully exchanging wishes with winners of the prestigious award. 

Six cash prizes were presented instead of the four publicized earlier. Senator Sherry Rehman was so impressed with the quality of the artworks that she announced two additional prizes on the spot. The six recipients were Irfan Gul Dahri (first prize of Rs200,000), Amna Manzoor (second prize of Rs150,000), Naqsh Raj (third prize Rs100,000), Javed Iqbal Mughal  (merit prize Rs50,000), and Syed Hussain and Bushra Khalid (Sherry Rehman and Nadeem Hussain merit prizes of Rs. 50,000 each).

Sherry praised the exhibition and claimed seeing leading artists emerging from the group in future. She mentioned that all displayed paintings were impressive and that there is not a single one that she could categorized as weak. She expressed how very pleased she was over Dr. Arjumand Faisel’s steps to promote an iconic art award, which will encourage and promote art and support young artists who remain unnoticed for want of patronage. “It is wonderful that the award is bringing in such a diverse range of talent and we hope that this prize ceremony grows and yields a million flowers,” she stated.

Dr. Arjumand Faisel explained the vision governing the award and talked about the impact it has made on the professional lives of artists who have won previous awards. His efforts received high applause from the audience, especially artists. “If artists continue to submit increasingly higher quality works, corporate sector participates to support the activity, and government institutions like PNCA facilitate, then Gallery 6 will strive harder to make this not only a prestigious art award in Pakistan, but also in the region,” he committed. 

Jamal Shah, Director General of PNCA, described the heritage history of art of the region starting from Mehergarh and how he plans to support art and artists through the institution he heads. He shared his life struggle to become an artist, much against the wishes of his family. Respecting the efforts of Gallery 6 for promoting young highly talented artists of Pakistan, he accepted the request to hold this dynamic event at PNCA, which lends support to promoting art all over Pakistan, a major focus of his overall plan for art development. 

Speaking on behalf of the judges’ panel which included Mansoor Rahi, R M Naeem and Sana Arjumand, Durriya Kazi revealed that the superior quality of paintings made the selection from 134 submissions very difficult, and hence, five rounds were held to eliminate some paintings at every stage. She praised that the gallery management for keeping the judgement process objective, transparent and unbiased. “The judges were not even allowed to speak to each other till the results had been achieved,” she said, terming it a unique approach.

This award, which is the first-ever art award by any private gallery in Pakistan at the national level for artists aged 25-40 years, was instituted by Gallery 6 in 2015. Earlier on, the gallery’s director Usama Arjumand outlined the objective of the award. “The key purpose is to emphasize the importance of classical painting among new, emerging and recently established artists. At the same time, it has filled a void for appreciation and recognition of outstanding emerging painters. We are also convinced that this award will serve to generate interest in the classical art form of painting,” he stated.

The exhibition will continue at PNCA till May 21 everyday (except Fridays) from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.