KARACHI, Feb 7: Painters and calligraphists received the Sadequain awards at Frere Hall on Friday.

The city government, which has been giving the Sadequain awards to outstanding painters and calligraphists for the past 11 years, received 168 paintings and 176 specimens of calligraphy from 205 candidates.

Five judges selected the best paintings and specimens of calligraphy from among the 344 entries.

The septuagenarian Nazim of Karachi, Naimatullah Khan, who kept the audience waiting for more than an hour, said Sadequain’s specimen of calligraphy was actually a bequest that had become part of our culture.

He said he was particularly pleased to notice that first prize had been bagged by a painter from Dera Ismail Khan.

The executive district officer of the city government’s community development department, Iqbal Zubaidi, said that Sadequain had come to Frere Hall to work on a painting on the first floor in 1986.

“It was here that he fell ill and had to be taken to hospital. When he died afterwards, the then local government decided to institute the Sadequain awards,” he recalled.

He added that the works of art would remain on display for 15 days.

The district officer of the city government’s community development department, Saifur Rehman Grami, said that Gallerie Sadequain was the only art gallery in Karachi which was not run along commercial lines.

“It is here that we have given opportunities to a large number of budding artists to display their works,” he said. He said that Mashkoor Raza, Ustad Abdul Rauf, Ustad Abdul Hai, M. Wamiq and Jimmy Engineer had been the judges of the awards.

The following painters received the Sadequain awards: Ajab Khan (first prize), Babar Ali (second prize), Abdur Rehman (third prize), Asma Pathan (special prize) and Azeem Babar (special prize).

The following calligraphists received the Sadequain awards: Abdul Aziz Awan (first prize), Nasir Khan Seemab (second prize), Jamshed Tahir (third prize), Ajab Khan (special prize) and Anwer Shaikh (special prize).