PESHAWAR: Artists from across the country attended the fifth annual summer camp and captured on the canvas fascinating landscapes of Naran valley and its surrounding areas.

The annual event was arranged under the auspices of Studio of Ali Sajid (SAS) Peshawar in collaboration with the provincial chapter of National Artists Association of Pakistan (Naap) in Naran.

Around 30 veteran artists and art students participated in the summer camp. Artists using several media including acrylics, water colour, oil colour and drawing were part of the annual event. Delegates from Karachi, Lahore, Kot Radha Kishan, Abbottabad, Faisalabad, Dera Ismail Khan, Chakwal, Peshawar and Charsadda attended the event.

Prof Ali Sajid, provincial chief of artists association, and his group of artists told this scribe that the summer camp had already become a regular feature as most senior, junior and rising artists alongside deserving art students attended the event arranged in the northern areas.

Senior painters from different areas attend annual summer camp

Prof Ali said that the main objective of the event was to motivate young artists and discover and display the charming landscapes of the country to the world as most of their works were based on some basic themes.

“The summer camp includes several activities like on the spot painting, group discussions, workshop, exhibition and photography where senior artists share their knowledge and experiences with junior and rising artists. Art students also learn a lot from such an event. All these activities are then further shaped up for a grand art exhibition, individual art galleries displays and exhibitions in different cities,” he said.

Prof Ali said that participants of the summer camp regretted that KP despite being such a great treasure trove of visual arts did not have its own art gallery though the then provincial government had pledged to set up an art gallery in early 2019 and even funds were allocated for the project but all in vain.

He said that at the camp artists painted areas of Naran Bazaar, Batakundi, Jalhad and Lalusar Lake. He said that senior artists included Ajab Khan, Dr Irshad Maqbool, Arif Ansari, Abbas Kamangar, Nasir Shahzad, Attique Ahmed, Gulraiz, Mohammad Sufyan, Shahzad Siyal, Saeed Nusrat, Ihtisham, Arshad Rauf, Ali Hasan, Bilal Amjad, Tahir Bilal and Nadir Ali.

Arif Ansari, a senior artist from Karachi, told this scribe that every year artists gathered wonderful images and creative ideas from the annual summer camp.

Saeed Nudrat, another artist, said that Pakistan’s northern landscapes were most charming sights on the earth.

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2023