— Photos by Tanveer Shahzad
ISLAMABAD: The five winners of the third and final edition of the We the Peoples, We the Arts 2019 competition were announced at an awards ceremony hosted by the Embassy of Switzerland at the Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA) on Thursday.
Students aged 18 and above, enrolled in accredited Pakistani colleges and universities, had submitted 221 works of art highlighting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a variety of media. Five winners were chosen from the 34 shortlisted finalists.
The winners were Sayera Anwar, a student of Beaconhouse National University, Raffia Azher from Kinnaird College for Women, Athar Raza, currently studying at the Institute for Art and Culture, Lahore, Qiraat Soomro, a student of the National College of Arts (NCA), and Lahore’s Ali Arshad, currently studying at Beaconhouse National University.
The jury also commended Lahore’s Bismah Hayat, studying at NCA and Bahawalpur’s Yumna Qamar, who is studying at Islamia University Bahawalpur. The winners and finalists were awarded cash prizes, certificates and other gifts.
Athar Raza’s work addressed SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, through monochromatic graphite on craft paper. Hailing from Quetta, his work is a cow scar on a human being.
He uses the symbol of a cow as they are placid creatures, calm and peaceful like a man who sees bloodshed while wanting peace. Humans live and survive in a city and country where humans are killed like cattle.
Raffia Azher tackled SDG 15 which is about ‘Life on Land’, through an unusual mixed media wooden sculpture with pictures of construction and people in graphite and varnish. Her work revolves around deforestation, logging and the irreversible damaging effects of industrialisation and urban development.
Qiraat Soomro used ink, charcoal, pastels and scavenged objects on canvas to engage with SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation. Her work titled ‘Bins of Prosperity’ describes the fundamental role of organisation in society as the process of organising trash plays a significant part in a sustainable lifestyle.
Ali Arshad’s video carries the profound message that the banal and benign is easy to ignore in the context of SDG 5, which is gender equality.