KARACHI, Oct 13: The city government on Wednesday distributed the 13th Sadequain Awards to outstanding amateur artists at the Gallerie Sadequain in the Frere Hall.

Filling in for Karachi Nazim Naimatullah Khan, who had to leave for Islamabad, the executive district officer of the city government's community development department, Iqbal Ahmed Zubeidi, recalled that the noted Amroha-born artist had spent a great deal of his time at the Gallerie Sadequain.

He added that the idea of giving awards to upcoming artists was to encourage them to hone their skills and work hard. He hoped that at least some of them would one day become extremely successful in their field.

The district officer of the city government's community development department, Saifur Rahman Grami, recalled that the Sadequain Awards had been in place for the past 13 years.

He said entries for the present awards had been submitted a couple of months ago, and the city government organized the function - though briefly because of tight security around the building - before Ramazan.

He said that a large number of entries had been received by the city government out of which 250 were shortlisted. He said the jury consisted of Jimmy Engineer, Abdul Hai, Mashkoor Raza, Abdul Rauf and the late N. Wamiq.

Praising the artists, Mr Engineer said jurors had basically looked for originality in the works of candidates. He, however, conceded that his outlook on art was far from perfect and added that a consensus decision was taken by the jurors.

The following artists received the awards for their specimens of calligraphy: Mehfooz (first position), Mohammad Ali (second position), Mohammad Zubair Ansari (third position), Asma Jan (special) and Fauzia Khan (special).

The following artists received the awards for their paintings: Ajab Khan (first position), Ayaz Khan (second position), Khalid Shaikh (third position), Mehnaz (special) and Saira Khan (special).