Brushing off terror

LAHORE
THE massacre of innocent children of Army Public School, Peshawar was the extreme of brutality and more than ever, there is a need for artists to get connected with their community and society.
These were the general views of the speakers at the inaugural ceremony and an open house discussion prior to the inauguration of the Artists’ Association of Punjab’s (AAP) 29th Annual Art Exhibition 2015 and Commemorative Show titled ‘Massacre of innocents’, organised at the Alhamra Arts Council, The Mall, Tuesday.
The entire session before the inauguration of the Commemorative Exhibition of paintings by the renowned young and new artists in the memory of the APS children and their teachers brutally murdered by the terrorists, the internationally acknowledged artists and art teachers at the prime visual and fine arts institutions in the country, writers, intellectuals and columnists, including Sardar Assef Ahmed Ali (the chief guest on the occasion), Mian Ijaz-ul-Hassan (Chairperson of the Artists’ Association of Punjab), Ataul Haq Qasmi, Shahnawaz Zaidi, Asghar Nadeem Syed, Rahat Naveed Masood and others observed that the reason for increasing brutality was mainly due to the fast decreasing level of tolerance in our society.
Furthermore, the speakers opined that there was a need to put in a collective as well as individual share in the betterment and well-being of the fellow Pakistanis with a sense of collectivity and mutual tolerance. A large number of artists, intellectuals, art students, art-lovers and general public attended the exhibition and the open house discussion.