75 years of Jang Group celebrated in ‘Headlines’

Karachi
A progressing society can never neglect the importance of art and literature. It is the prime duty of social leaders to ensure a balanced lifestyle in a fast-changing world by promoting artists and helping them enhance their imagination to impart the message of peace, love and tolerance in the society.
Nafisa Rizvi, renowned art critic, shared these views while talking to The News on Friday at an art exhibition titled “The Headline’ at Frere Hall, organised by the Jang Group to celebrate the completion of 75 years of Daily Jang.
She was jubilant to see unique artwork by talented artists.
“It is very interesting to experience such unique ideas where artists are expressing their deep thoughts about the print media,” she said.
Rizvi said the Jang Group had been a major stakeholder in our society in terms of encouraging artists and promoting their work. “The media lack in promoting art and literature to an appreciable extent. It is a tremendous effort by the Jang Group to bring artists and journalists closer to each other, as they are not often seen together,” she commented.
She urged other media groups to follow suit, as one good exhibition was not enough to lift the culture of art in the country. “Journalists must be trained to learn art and literature in a better manner. With the exception of a few, the newspapers print low-quality art exhibition reports using inappropriate language. These sorts of exhibitions will encourage reporters to learn about art and write better reports.”
Syed Sarmad Ali of the Jang Group said the group had completed its remarkable and successful 75 years. “We wanted to celebrate by exhibiting some quality and unique art, bridging the gap between the media and artists at this indelible and congenial occasion,” he added.
He said Shafi Aqeel of the Jang Group was the pioneer in publishing art stories in Pakistan. “Shafi Aqeel introduced so many artists and promoted their work through his writings. He opened the gates for so many critics to write on the issue, and gave the culture of art a new life through his efforts.”
He said that the promotion of art and literature in the society was direly needed and the corporate sector should aid artists in any way possible.
“These exhibitions help the society counter violence, extremism and terrorism and promote tolerance, peace and tranquility to enjoy a pluralistic life in a multiethnic and diverse culture country like Pakistan.”
Munawwar Ali Syed, famous artist and event curator, said the Jang group had arranged a unique event, the first time in Pakistan by any media group.
“It is appreciable that the organisers have paid artists for their work and they can bring their projects back with them, which is very rare in our country.
The group allowed these artists to portray their strengths and unique imaginations without worrying about selling their work,” he added.
He regretted that art stories were only restricted to English newspapers for a long time. “It is disappointing to see a few lines in Urdu newspapers about art and craft. I hope this exhibition will help us revive art sections in Urdu dailies.”
Twenty-four artists presented captivating narrations on various aspects of newspapers, their interpretation, refusal, and fascination within our culture. Faraz Matee, an artist, displayed a trunk-like model titled “I love real” made up of carved newspapers.
He said the idea was to analyse the foundation of all understanding that originates from nature and examine how man had used it to create and disseminate immaterial and material qualities of our knowledge about the world.
“This work questions the perception of real nature; as nature is actually turning into a man-made nature,” he added.
He disappointingly added that the major problem of an artist in Pakistan was the lack of space for producing art.
“I do all my work in the premises of my university where I teach. The authorities must help us in providing proper spaces to work like the artists in developed countries have.”
Kiran Saeed, a young artist, picked up a catchy idea for her painting.
She painted toys and newspapers in different shelves of a cupboard, depicting the fact that children were addicted to toys and elders to newspapers.
“Newspapers have taken over a very important place in everyone’s life, and we shelve them in our minds. We want to know anything about everything or everything about anything just like kids are full of curiosity,” she added.
Journalists, artists, critics, and people other walks of life visited the event. The 10-day exhibition will continue till April 13.