A welcome celebration of Pakistani art

The much awaited first Nigaah Art Awards (NAA) were held at the Mohatta Palace on Saturday to honour the genius of some of Pakistan’s finest artists.

A flagship event of Nigaah magazine – edited and published by Tauqeer Muhajir – the awards acknowledged works of both established and emerging artists. The proceeds of the event, earned through auction of local artists’ paintings held during the ceremony, would fund studies of two underprivileged students who wish to pursue a degree in the arts.

Divided over 13 categories, the artworks judged by the adjudicating panel included only those displayed by artists from January 2016 to June 2017.

The winners were selected by a panel of experts which had Dawn Media Group CEO Hameed Haroon as its chairperson, whereas the jury members included renowned art writer and critic Marjorie Husain; art critic, curator and co-founder Nukta Art magazine, Amra Ali; Pakistan Post Foundation General Manager and member of the National College of Arts’ governing board, Adil Salahuddin; Szabist Department of Media Sciences assistant professor, Taimur Ahmed Suri; NCA assistant professor, RM Naeem, and Tauqeer Muhajir.

Addressing the ceremony, Muhajir stressed on how important it was to recognise and appreciate the skills that Pakistani artists possess and to encourage them through such initiatives. “The objective of this magnificent evening is to showcase and appreciate Pakistani art,” he said.

All praise for the event, Hameed Haroon encouraged the initiative taken to honour local artists and also commended NAA for having decided to make good use of the event’s proceeds. Not only a delight for visual art lovers, the ceremony left the audience mesmerised first by a scintillating Afghani musical piece, performed by Wajahat Ali and Shehroz Hussain, followed by an engrossing session of Dastaangoi – an ancient art of oral storytelling in Urdu – by actor and director Fawad Khan.

The event’s attendees were then treated to a wonderful live painting performance by acclaimed artist Farrukh Shahab.     The much celebrated Lifetime Achievement awards were presented to Salima Hashmi, one of Pakistan’s most renowned artists who served as a professor and principal of Lahore’s esteemed National College of Arts, and Marjorie Husain, an eminent artist, critic and author of multiple books including biographies of some of Pakistan’s celebrated artistes.

The artists who won awards for other genres included Shahid Jamal for Landscape Painting; Shakeel Siddiqui for Still Life Painting; Muhammad Ali Talpur for Abstract Painting; Syed Hussain for Miniature Painting; Irfan Hassan for Portrait Painting; Fahim Rao for 3D Sculpture Work; Adeel Zafar for Drawing; Ghulam Muhammad for Khatati (Calligraphy); Arif Mehmood for Photography; Noor-ul-Huda for Emerging Painter; Aasim Akhtar for Art Critic; and Muhammad Zeeshan for Curatorial Work.

Three special prizes – Curatorial Work, Photography and Landscape Painting – were awarded to Nasreen Askari, Jamal Ashiqain and Sadaf Naeem, respectively. Among other notable artists present at the event were Noorjehan Bilgrami, Shehnaz Ismail, Sameera Raja, Riffat Alvi and AS Rind.