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Published 15 Sep, 2012 09:10pm

Ode to Manto — an exhibition of style

ISLAMABAD, Sept 15: The Nomad Gallery Saturday opened its doors to “Naamaber” (messenger), a collection of exclusively designed textile exhibition, by the owner of the gallery Nageen Hyat.

Printed on the finest light and airy cotton, the imaginative and creative imagery reflected Saadat Hassan Manto and his choice of subject matter — stylised scripts, newspaper texts, cultural nuances and the South Asian dance form.

The textiles have an assortment of uses, the most common of which are apparel, home products and accessories.

The curator of the exhibition, Nageen Hyat explained that the concept Ode to Manto took eight months to design and it marked the centenary of Saadat Hassan Manto.

The screen printed scripts (in an effort to revive the methods of designing and visuals) on to the fabrics that can be used to make traditional dupatas and shirts reflected the progressive works of the famous and a sensitive writer at the time, reflecting on the society, when many people were unwilling to accept it.

Visitors appreciated the vision, skill and patience of so much of the art.

They described them as inspiring and amazing pieces. And others appreciated the creative display.

With the several layers of works with a thorough out process, the prints also include the short story writer’s images, the silhouette of the dancing girl and script in both English and Urdu as well.

Monochromatic as well as coloured impressions immediately attracted attention as visitors walked into the gallery.

“The scripts have been picked out from years old newspaper clippings published in the past several years that reflected Manto’s thoughts and imagery,” said Nageen Hyat on the opening day.

According to the curator, the scripts that others had not brought up had a meditative aspect and were open to interpretation.

The four day exhibition will be continuing till September 18.

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