February 2, 2002

The variety offered when the work of a number of artists is brought together under one roof has a charm of its own. The old adage about too many cooks doesn’t quite apply here. From strokes on canvas to sculptures to textile designing to pottery, the recent exhibition, or rather the Art Festival 2002, captivated, charmed, enchanted and impressed. Work by budding artists from various art schools of Karachi was tastefully spread all over the main lobby of Park Towers, Karachi.

The monstrous statue of a huge pehlwan in a red dhoti, by Adnan Madni of the Indus Valley School of Art, greeted visitors at the entrance and offered a hint of the different moods and kinds of work that lay ahead. Imaginations were let loose and creativity was allowed to run wild. Other wood, clay and ceramics sculptures by Asif Mehmood and Lubaba Abbas of the CIAC, and Beenish and Rehma Iqbal of the Karachi School of Arts, also attracted attention. Nageen Feroze from the Karachi School of Arts had erected a huge, one storey high hollow pirate’s skull, with the message ‘Dead men tell no tales’. Roomy from inside, the interior was decorated with antique weapons, oil lanterns, a skeleton and strands of pearls in treasure chests. The only thing missing though was a Jolly Roger flag.

The various paintings too were all very impressive with just as impressive (quite steep) price tags. Sumera of the CIAC had created a blend of a painting and sculpture. The concoction prompted one to go behind it to see the rest of it. What else would you do if the lower half of a mummified body hung out of the frame as if it had suddenly dived into the painting and gotten stuck in it? Another young creator, Shahid, seemed infatuated by the female form and orange coloured butterflies. Amna Rehman, of the Indus Valley, depicted a beautiful woman unearthed like a treasure. There were spectacular abstracts and a lot of impressive work by others as well. It would have helped though if all the paintings had a title or name and also if all the entrants, rather than just a few, had mentioned the names of their institutions.

Towards the left side of the lobby, Javed Akhtar, a potter, was patiently giving demonstrations on his potter’s wheel. He is an instructor who set up the Institute of Art Heritage around three years ago, after people expressed their desire to learn the skill of pottery. Most of the crowd was either gathered around him or the Al-Falah Welfare Trust stall that sold handicrafts. Javed is yet to develop a distinctive style of his own, and continues to experiment in various styles. His first efforts are his confession and application. Critics and buyers of his work will hopefully nudge him in the right direction over time. Which is precisely why such early exposure is so significant.