309 submit artworks to participate in calligraphy contest

Islamabad :A total of 309 calligraphers from across the country have submitted their art works to the National History and Literary Heritage (NH&LH) Division for participation in the up-coming National Calligraphy Competition and Exhibition.

The jury members comprising over the expert calligraphers have started the scrutinising process to identify the best calligraphic art works for the week-long national calligraphy competition and exhibition, to be held from February 23 to 28.

Talking to APP on Wednesday, Adviser to Prime Minister on NH&LH, Irfan Siddiqui said, it is a matter of great satisfaction that calligraphers from far flung areas of the country including FATA, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir have submitted their unique art pieces to the division for participating in the competition which reflect their enthusiasm and love for this ancient art, he said.

He said national calligraphy competition and exhibition will help discover talented calligraphers from the remote corners of the country and play vital role in the revival of this Islamic art. The calligraphy competition and exhibition will be dedicated to Abdul Majeed Parveen Raqam who was a legendary calligrapher and rendered huge contribution in this field.

This initiative will serve as catalyst toward promotion of glorious Islamic art of calligraphy in the country and motivate the young artists to get excellence in this ancient form of art, he said. A total of 15 awards will be given in three categories to the winners of the competitions on the concluding day of the exhibition (Feb 28).

These categories include Nastaleeq, Thuluth and Modern style calligraphy. The cash prizes worth Rs75,000, Rs50,000, Rs40,000, Rs20,000 and Rs15,000 will be given to the best five calligraphers of each category.

Young calligraphers, aged up to 35 years, from across the country including AJK, FATA and Gilgit-Baltistan have submitted their art works to the division. The selection of best calligraphers will be made by the jury comprising over senior calligraphers in transparent manner.

The calligraphers participating in the competition will also conduct training workshops during the calligraphy exhibition. This calligraphy competition along with an exhibition of selected art pieces will be held from February 23 to 28 at a local hotel. The calligraphy exhibition will be open for the general public during the whole week.