PESHAWAR: Senior artist Abid Zaman has asked provincial education authorities to revive the art of drawing and calligraphy at school level to widen its scope as it helps students to chisel their creative strength.

In a chat with this scribe, he said that schoolchildren lost their creative faculty to dependence on computer. He added that most experts believed that the art of drawing triggered motor skills in children.

Abid Zaman, a resident of Nowshera district, is recipient of several awards including Gul Gee award, Shahehzada Sultan Hyder award, China youth award, national cultural festival exhibition award, Khewarra salt mine award and Sadequain award. He is presently serving as senior art teacher at a local Folks Grammar School (FGS).

He has participated in international water colour festival in Dubai, Abasin Arts council exhibition in Peshawar and the first Sino-Pak youth exhibition. He has received appreciation from artists for his creative display both in paintings and the art of Islamic calligraphy.

Artist says calligraphy helps students to chisel their creative strength

During his graduation from Sarhad University of Information Technology (SUIT), his major was painting and calligraphy was among his minors but still he shined in the art of Islamic calligraphy. “Since early childhood I would get scolded by messing up walls with sketches and human figures that I used to draw with charcoal but later I made it a career choice to learn that wonderful art,” the artist recalled.

Mr Zaman said that he learnt the intricacies of Khat-i-Sulus and Nastailq from Ustad Sardar Khan and Ustad Nasir Khan, respectively, the former being the oldest called ‘Kufic’ originated in the 7th century while Nastaliq was combination of ‘Naskh’ and ‘Taliq’ formalised towards early 14th century.

The artist stated that he preferred manual learning to digital or graphic designs, which saved time but dented creative faculty. “Therefore, motor skills of schoolchildren remain dormant as their aesthetic sense of visuals including shapes, colours, beauty of order and optical precision lose creative strength,” he added.

He said that drawing used to be practiced in schools just as a fun but in fact all the kinaesthetic of a child could only be triggered through the gradual practice of good handwriting leading to the art of Islamic calligraphy having six different styles.

“I would ask education managers to revive the art of calligraphy at school level to enlarge its academic scope to several other branches of knowledge including medical sciences, modern engineering and architecture,” said Mr Zaman.

Published in Dawn, April 8th, 2024