LAHORE: Third Alhamra National Exhibition of visual art opened at Alhamra Art Centre, The Mall, on Tuesday.

The exhibition, being organised by the Lahore Arts Council (LAC), was jointly inaugurated by the council’s executive director, chairman board of governors and veteran artist Saeed Akhtar.

The exhibition featured a variety of artworks by 102 artists. The LAC has also published a catalogue based on the artworks on display.

The works are by eminent artists such as Saeed Akhtar, Jamil Naqsh, Ismail Gulgee, Jalal Shahid, Iqbal Hussain, Shami Zulfiqar Ali Zulfi, Dr Rahat Naveed Masood, Jamil Baloch, RM Naeem, Akram Dost Baloch, Ali Kazim, Syed Jamal Shah and others.

The show represents different styles of art. The subjects are innovative and artworks have a lot to offer in terms of depth and subtleness.

On the opening day of the exhibition, the visitors took great interest in artworks, especially in those by the students from art institutions and independent artists.

Veteran visual artist Dr Ajaz Anwar while commenting on the exhibition said that after many years the council had put on display such a comprehensive exhibition. He said the subjects had a variety but there was no sculpture at the exhibition.

The exhibition will remain open for 10 days and it would conclude on Nov 26.

Music Conference: The 62nd All Pakistan Music Conference, a regular feature of Lahore’s cultural calendar, kicked off at the Alhamra Art Center, The Mall, on Tuesday.

The five-day (Nov 16- 20) conference has been an annual feature in the city for decades and has a huge contribution towards introducing new talent to music fanciers and revitalising classical and semi-classical music through seasoned musicians and singers. A number of people including students attended the conference which opened with ‘Gharanao ki meeras’ segment.

Ghazala Irfan, the moving spirit behind the APMC, told Dawn that the inaugural session of the conference was dedicated to Pakistan’s classical music as singers from second and third generation of gharanas performed on the first day. They included young singers from Salamat family, Mubarak Ali Khan family and Shagan and other families. “The new voices in classical singing is our hope for the promotion of classical and semi-classical music,” she added.

On Wednesday (today), folk music, songs, ghazals, kafi and thumri will be sung. Thursday and Friday will be dedicated to classical music and the prize distribution ceremony will be held on Saturday.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2021