PESHAWAR: Young teacher Hira Ali of the Art and Design Department, University of Peshawar (UoP), has recently earned an international award in paintings exhibition held in the Art College of Nanjing University, China, for her best artwork. Artists from 1,030 universities located in 20 countries participated in the contest and had submitted around 19,938 entries.

The theme of her work was Chinese heritage. It was a pen and coloured pencils drawing inspired by the style of work of Mughal miniature paintings and depicting the architectural beauty of a traditional Chinese pagoda, which was a reference image in a garden of Singapore.

The competition titled ‘3rd Oriental Creative Star Design ASEAN Division’ was arranged under the auspices of International Economic and Technological Cooperation Centre of the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, at the Chinese university.

Ms Ali graduated from the Art and Design Department, UoP, with her major in textile design and has participated in several exhibitions and contests at the national level. She has also served in art and design departments of a few private sector universities, including Shaheed Benzair Bhutto University, and finally joined her alma mater UoP in 2019.

In a chat with this scribe, the young artist said she came to know about the art competition through her friend presently studying in a Chinese university and instantly began work on it. She said that after three months she was able to craft an image of a Chinese pagoda, a heritage building, and sent it to the 20-member jury of the oriental creative star design committee who awarded her with silver medal for her best artwork.

She said her favourite themes included architectural drawings, calligraphies and heritage buildings of Pakistan while her favorite medium was pen and ink.

She said she had also been working in pencil and charcoal, but mixed media was her forte. She said KP had great talent when it came to art, but the artists needed exposure, platforms and opportunities to display their talent.

She said that parents, teachers and stakeholders should encourage the girl students to participate in such events.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2022