On Thursday, Satrang Gallery, Islamabad organized a group Exhibition were various artists had represented their artwork inspired from the literature of great Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Rumi and Ghalib Mirza.
The exhibition titled 'The Self We Share II' was showcasing creative calligraphy and paintings of Renowned painter and teacher of Punjab University, Lahore: Arif Khan and three other emerging young artists including Zahra Hussain Shah, Sana Zaidi and Shah Abdullah Alamee. The event was being inaugurated by Egyptian Ambassador Ahmed Mohamad Fadel Yacoub.
Satrang Gallery director Asma Rashid Khan said the three younger artists are deeply in love with the poetry and prose of Sufi grandmasters, such as Rumi, and Sufi practices. These pious Sufi and saints have contributed the ideal meanings of love and life.
Asma Rashid shared that: “At a time when it is easy and prevalent to highlight separations and differences amongst human beings and communities, this show highlights the power of the strength within ourselves, as individuals but more importantly as a community, as a collective.”
Ambassador Yacoub told that: “Islamic calligraphy has always been a highly venerated form of art as they recorded Quranic Ayats and Muslims preferred using geometric patterns and floral motifs to embellish spaces such as mosques.”
Arif Khan, The master of Calligraphy from Lahore said: “In this collection, I have been drawn focus on one of the Haroof al-Muqatta’at, the do-chashmee hay. The Holy Quran contains a set of letters that are placed at the beginning of surahs, and the meanings of these are shrouded in mystery. The meanings and purposes of these are unknown. I would request that you stand in front of my paintings and after a few minutes the paintings will speak to you.”
Beautifully formed, entirely in freestyle, the calligraphies are a symphony of colours blending to create new tones and shades along each piece. The letter hay was written in numerous ways and shades often overlapping and becoming hidden in the layers, much as its meaning.
The use of bold colours and placement of black focal point in the centre of painting caught the attention of the viewers and became the focal point, bolstered by the numerous colours that create the backdrop.
Zahra Hussain Shah’s paintings depicted Sama, the Sufi dance, reflecting the essence and tempo of Rumi’s poetry, while Sana Zaidi’s works had the sensation of waves on an endless ocean. Shah Abdullah Alamee was the only sculptor in the show, and his work was inspired by the poetry of Rumi, Baba Bulleh Shah and Faiz Ahmed Faiz.
Artists should get more ways of Representing their inner talent and more Art Exhibitions should be organized for the encouragement of young talent.