- Photo courtesy of Creative Common

ISLAMABAD: Students of Foundation University exhibited as many as 150 art works for a cause at Lok Virsa on Thursday evening.

More than 50 to 60 per cent of the proceeds from the exhibition will go towards the welfare of street children of the Universal Women Children Art Therapy Association (UWCATA), Pakistan Sweet Home, a charity project of Pakistan Baitul Mal.

Managing Director Pakistan Baitul Mal (PBM), Zumurud Khan opened the doors of the Lok Virsa museum to a vast collection of paintings and drawings – all in mixed media.

Samina Jamshed, who curated the exhibition, was amazed by the creative concepts of the students of Foundation University.

“The way they have experimented with the different kinds of mediums, unusual sizes and adopted a unique approach was amazing and it did not take me long to decide whose work to select,” said Samina Jamshed who has been giving art therapy sessions at the Lok Virsa for the street children and the orphans.

Students of Graphic Design, Rida Mazhar and Sitwat Shehzad, had contributed their abstract and still life paintings for the cause.

“This is the first time we have contributed for such a cause through art,” said Rida Mazhar, a student of Masters in Fine Arts.

The two young artists had produced their own interpretations of Lahore, the walled city, almost reviving the grandeur of ancient Lahore.

It was interesting to note that like Rida and Sitwat, The Walled City was the subject of most young painters who seemed to be fascinated by ancient architecture.

Gohar Iqbal, another fourth-year Fine Arts student had taken on a different project and her works presented still lives in oil on canvas and pen and ink.

Zumurud Khan, the curator of the show and Director of UWCATA appreciated the enthusiasm of the students in creating an attractive exhibition. He also commended Lok Virsa for its continued support to PBM in holding its activities at the culturally brimming location of Shakarparian.

Lok Virsa’s chief executive, Khalid Javaid, said, “Lok Virsa follows a policy of involving all talented Pakistani citizens, in particular the youth, in implementation of its policies and programmes. Our focus is youth community. They have the potential and it needs to be polished and projected at the national level.”

He invited students to make the best use of Lok Virsa’s facilities for their educational needs and pointed out the various resources Lok Virsa offered. Mr Khalid especially highlighted heritage library with a large collection of books and journals pertaining to folklore, ethnology, cultural anthropology, art, history and crafts, numerous manuscripts, original reports, field surveys and research monographs on Pakistani culture.

UWCATA had been holding therapy workshops in Islamabad for the flood and war-affected areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa for the last three years with a view to giving children a new hope for life and will continue to do so with the proceeds of the current exhibition.

The exhibition will remain on display until March 3.