The devastating floods in Pakistan are no longer headline news, but the sad stories and the misery of millions who have suffered will continue for a long time and cannot be ignored or forgotten. People at large are contributing in many ways to alleviate the suffering of those affected by the flood, and artists too have chipped in their bit for this cause.

One such endeavour by the artist community that deserves a mention is the recently organised mammoth show at the Alhamra Galleries in Lahore. The exhibition was organised by a collective enterprise called Sanjh, initiated by Zahra Asad Saifullah and Zahra Mirza of RetroArts in collaboration with Foaad Nizam, director, Danka.com.pk (an online platform for the arts). Visual artists Imran Ahmad Khan, Sajjad Ahmad and Usman Saeed, were also instrumental in putting the show together.

The special feature about the Sanjh exhibition was the youthful vitality and the enthusiasm of a cross section of artists, including veteran, upcoming and new entrants. But the majority of artists were young and upwardly mobile individuals who were obviously infused with a passion to make a contribution to a worthy cause. The entire proceeds of the sale are to go to The Red Crescent Foundation's flood relief effort. To facilitate sales, most of the works were affordable and provided viewers with an exciting opportunity to buy good works by well-known and promising artists. It was heartening to see that most artists had submitted quality works and not tried to get away by contributing substandard or discarded pieces.

The art works on display could be roughly categorised in four areas photography and digital images, drawings and etchings, paintings and mixed media, and three-dimensional works including ceramics and sculptures. Among the photographic works, there were a number of sensitive images, but Salima Hashmi's, screen printed photo, Rahid Rana's collage, Mehreen Murtaza's surreal composition, Sajjad Ahmad's stunning visual analogy, Naushaba Brohi's enchanting study of nature and Fahim Ahmad and Amber Hammad's sensitive portraits made a special impact on viewers and most of these were bought very quickly.

The small drawings of veteran artist Saeed Akhtar were also sold out soon. There were others which were worthy of attention as well, such as the bold rendering by Shahid Mirza, the intricate and sensitive imagery of Aasim Akhtar, Adeel uz Zaffar, Mohammad Ali Talpur, Laila Rehman, and Afshar Malik. Paintings included a variety of mediums and genres, but the themes were mostly symbolic.

Moeen Faruqi, Mehran Jhokio, Usman Saeed and Ahsan Jamal displayed sensitive, yet eye catching works, while Ahmad Ali Manganhar, Rahema Alam and Zahra David's paintings had somber connotations. The three-dimensional works were fewer in number, including the works of accomplished ceramists like Dabir and Talat, sculptor Abdul Jabbar Gul, and new, highly innovative younger artists like Ayaz Jhokio, Imran Ahmad and Maimoona.

A commendable effort in this exhibition was a beautifully printed pack of post cards featuring the works of almost all the participants. Priced at Rs500 only, this collection of more than a hundred creative images is an affordable treasure to posses.

A number of works are still available online at www.retroarts.pk

 1) The lonely astronaut, Sajjad Haider
2)  Movie move malignant, Mehreen Murtaza