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Reflecting heritage AFTER a long time, the citizens here witnessed some healthy cultural activity in the shape of an exhibition of pastel paintings and prints by Ayesha Riaz at the Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Auditorium of the Arts Council, the other day. Ayesha Riaz, a lecturer in Applied Arts at the University of Agriculture, has her own distinctive vision of perceiving life around her and has quite successfully experimented with various media, specially pastel. Her paintings seem to have a happy accidental quality about them whether it is a glimpse of a ‘Jharoka’ or themes like ‘momentary lights of passing vehicles’, ‘impressions of people on busy roads’, ‘platform of Lahore railway station’, ‘crowd’, ‘Old Anarkali Lahore’ and ‘Blues’. Belonging to Faisalabad, she holds a master’s degree in Fine Arts from the Institute of Art and Design, Punjab University. Out of 61 paintings presented in the exhibition, four related to Faisalabad Clock Tower, Chenab Club Building, old campus of the University of Agriculture and Railway Station Mosque — all reflecting the country’s heritages. Ayesha has a vast experience in pastel paintings and prints. She participated in the All-Punjab Artists Group Exhibition, Cooper Art Gallery, Lahore, Group Exhibition of Miniature Paintings at Punjab University’s Fine Arts Department and a group exhibition of paintings at a local hotel. She also took part in the All-Punjab Artists Association Exhibition at Faisalabad Council of the Arts. Her solo exhibition at Ustad Nusrat Fateh Auditorium, Faisalabad Council of the Arts, was inaugurated by provincial minister for communication and works Zaheeruddin Khan. The minister said artists created beautiful and memorable masterpieces by utilizing their God-gifted capabilities which left the human wisdom wonder struck, and one could not find proper words to praise them. He said Ayesha’s paintings reflected her deep observation and knowledge of her surroundings and culture. He said the artists creating the masterpieces based on the photographs of historical personalities, national leaders, historical buildings and landscapes, etc. were rendering a national service. Talking to Dawn, Ayesha said besides simple pastel painting, there were many experimental sketches, combination of pastels, sprays and stencilling in bold warm colours. She said she had earlier arranged two paintings exhibitions at a local hotel. On few occasions over the last five decades, paintings or other exhibitions have been arranged in the city which is evident from the fact that their number is only five. She said since class 6th, she had been doing paintings and had keen interest in art, but appreciation from Faisalabad had been negligible. “My interest lies in depicting the impressions of life around me in a very serene and calm manner. A slight movement is shown by twisting and cut angling outlines of the subject,” she said. Shahnawaz Zaidi, Pride of Performance, says: “Aysha displays her own personal style and vision. She paints impressions of the world around her with a sensitive brush. Line plays a significant role in her work. Her work takes you in a dream world where line interest, images move fast as if seen from a train window on a dark and windy evening.” Mohammed Zafarullah, the chairman of the Institute of Art and Design, Punjab University, Lahore, said: “From the art of Ayesha it appears that landscapes and cityscapes look a step ahead of academic culmination. She does not record the objects but feels sensation in form and colour that she transforms into painting and drawing.” “I feel if she excels in the same direction, the sensation will take over much on to the actual form. If she can articulate and strive so that these images can be further transfused into very intriguing non-representational form,” he said. Ghulam Mustafa, Pride of Performance, said Ayesha had successfully restrained her tendency to paint realistically and converted her paintings into little notes taken from the visuals around her surroundings. Her work brought into focus linear rhythm and sensitivity. Over 5,000 people, including students, teachers, industrialists, traders, lawyers, journalists, poets, artists, women and children, and art lovers visited the exhibition and appreciated the work. They appreciated that the Faisalabad Arts Council provided an opportunity to the art lovers to have a glimpse of artistic values portrayed in the exhibition. They said it was unfortunate that the city, which was known as one of the leading centres of fabric made-ups and fashions and was earning a handsome foreign exchange, had always been shy of promoting the cause of art. They urged the industrialists to help arrange regular exhibitions of their products and invite creative people to display their work. This would, besides enhancing mental creativity, benefit their trade. Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)
