ISLAMABAD: The Bazeecha art exhibition, featuring the work of children who participated in a summer arts programme, opened at Hunerkada on Monday.

The exhibition displayed the results of a six week programme in which children learned painting, drawing, sculpture, pottery and even puppetry. It was inaugurated by chief guest Dr Ma Dong, dean of Xi’an Polytechnic University’s New Media Art Department.

The exhibited pieces were displayed in several rooms. One room contained pencil sketches of shapes and bicycles, among other subjects, as well as paintings of colour wheels and vibrant collages of landmarks such as the Taj Mahal, Faisal Mosque and the Statue of Liberty, among others.

The children’s efforts at pottery were laid out on a table in the centre of the room, showcasing everything from clay figurines of seahorses to brightly painted and textured containers and pots and bowls.

In a second room there were paintings in a riot of colours, some depicting fruit bowls and others geometric, abstract shapes. Below them, on a shelf, lay sculptures that featured children’s handprints.

On one wall along a hallway connecting the rooms were textured and colourful prints hung and taped to the wall – the results of the summer programme’s printmaking classes, and further along were more paintings, including recreations of classic works such as Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ and Munch’s ‘The Scream’.

After the exhibition was inaugurated, the chief guest was shown around the space by Hunerkada Director Amna Shah, who also introduced him to some of the artists. The children later posed for photographs with the chief guest as well as Hunerkada staffers.

“Every summer, we do a six week programme of six different disciplines. So this time, [there was] drawing, painting, sculpture, print-making, ceramics, textiles, product design, graphic design and we’ve added theatre and puppetry this time as well. Last time, it was music,” Ms Shah said, when asked about the summer programme.

She said the programme is focused on children aged between six and 12.

“It is only for kids. We can only cater to them once in the year, and I enjoy working with kids because it’s fearless drawings, fearless paintings, and very energetic,” she said. “Throughout the year I teach elder kids, and elder kids take one day to draw something and they take five minutes.”

Ms Shah added that their summer course covers the same topics as their bachelors’ course.

“It’s the same assignments, but we allow them to work the way they want to. So in the students’ second year we give them replicas to paint, so this time we gave the replicas to the children as well to paint and I guess they’ve done justice to them,” she said.

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2018