The South Asian Heritage Festival of Mississauga will open in Canada on Aug 12 with music, film, arts and other cultural activities as its salient features.

At least 200 prominent personalities from different walks of life will participate in the festival, according to a message received here from the organisers, the Canadian Community Arts Initiative.

The Canadian Community Arts Initiative is a not for profit organisation working to unite artists, art aficionados and persons interested in art and allied fields for fellowship. Its board of directors consists of Asma Arshad Mahmood, Ali Adil Khan, Gustave Heme Lozano, Arshad Mahmood, Kamal Ahuja, Ashish Gandhi, H. Amyn, Tahir Aslam Gora and Ricky Bajaj. This year’s Virsa Visual Arts exhibition of the festival will feature retrospective works of renowned Pakistani artist Jimmy Engineer and on display will be his selective creative work he did from 1980 to 2010. Jimmy Engineer’s art show will be held at Promenade Gallery.

The organisers say Jimmy Engineer will be present at the opening of the show at Promenade Gallery on Aug 12. He will be available to speak to his fans and media till Aug 19, while the show will go on till Sept 4. Some signed prints showing vast range of his work over the years will also be presented. Part of sale proceeds of these signed prints will go to a local charity of Jimmy Engineer’s choice.

The show titled “Jimmy Engineer: A Retrospective 1980-2010” has been curated by Ali Adil Khan and Asma Arshad Mahmood and the organisers have extended special thanks to Behram Avari and Parvez Iqbal for facilitating the show.

An exhibition by Andleeb Rana, an artist and member of the Punjab Artists Association, concluded at Naseem Hafeez Qazi Art Gallery at Lahore College for Women University on Friday.

The art show was an effort to contextualise the texture of time. “My effort is to stimulate issues and norms, which encircle life. The relationship of colours, areas and symbols emphasises the texture of time,” Ms Rana told Dawn.

She says time has many transparent, translucent and opaque layers and around these layers revolves daily life. The components of time such as soft, coarse, smooth, rough, visible, hidden, hard and silky have been depicted symbolically.

She said the realm of time could be physical or metaphysical. It is limited when someone have it and undefined when not desired. Human beings always remain under the influence of time. It leads them to different horizons for instance past, which is gone but remains as a translucent layer, which cannot be scratched or diminished. Similarly, future, which is vaguely linked with so many expectations, desires and hopes, has opaque layers.

The present prevails with all its realities yet ambiguity is attached to it. These certainties and uncertainties create beliefs, bewilderment and excitements, which are being painted.

Ms Rana said many artists explored their own way to express their approach like Jackson Pollock, Joan Miro, Mark Rothko, Newman etc. Dali has her own way like melting clock in surrealist manner. Futurists tried to develop their own expression of perception. “I am trying to evolve my style to portray these median and subject matters,” she added.

The artist in her artworks, the mix media paintings, touched the socio-political issues, economic crises, intricacies of human relations and chaos in the society and intervention of day to day inventions in technology and their impact on the daily life.

The artist put on display her 26 works at the event, which ran from July 19 to 26. In the past, she exhibited her works at more than 20 solo and group shows.

The art show was visited by art connoisseurs, art fanciers, students from different art institutions and others.

The Lahore Arts Council has planned a Qawali night on 24th of Ramazan at Alhamra Cultural Complex, Qaddafi Stadium. Leading qawals from Lahore would perform on the occasion.

The night will be organised at the open air theatre and entry to the event will be free.