ISLAMABAD: Gallery6 hosted the Arjumand Painting Awards 2015 on Sunday evening where unique and absolutely brilliant paintings were showcased prior to the prize distribution ceremony.
Acclaimed artists Asim Akhtar, Akram Dost, Meher Afroz, RM Naeem and Sana Arjumand judged the awards.
The initiative was taken by Arjumand Faisal, the curator of the gallery, who opened the event. “I don’t know where exactly to begin, but I remember when I was in school, Ali Imam opened Karachi’s first art gallery, The Indus Art Gallery near my house. I witnessed some brilliant artwork there including the first exhibition of Meher Afroz’s work. Other prominent artists included Mubeena Zuberi, Mashkoor Raza, Tassaduq Sohail, and Lubna Agha,” he said.
Recalling the time when he took “unseen visions” to America he said, “the American press labelled the exhibition as mind blowing and sophisticated. One of their newspapers claimed that the exhibition changed the country’s image created by CNN.”
He told The Express Tribune that in 2011, the National Awards in Australia inspired him and he decided to bring the concept of art awards to Pakistan.
Afroz, who was awarded the President’s Pride of Performance Award 2015 for her outstanding services to art, said “I believe awards and appreciation is necessary to encourage and retain brilliant artists and avoid a brain drain. The painting awards are also changing Pakistan’s negative image in a great way which is a ray of light amidst the dark shadows of negativity that we live in currently.”
I couldn’t be more delighted because these awards were not only successful in appreciating artists but also gave prominence to the unrecognised artwork,” said NCA Lahore Assistant Professor RM Naeem, who has exhibited his work around the world.
In the first phase, 81 eligible paintings were selected followed by the second phase where all five judges were asked to select five paintings each without any discussion. As a result, a list of 18 paintings was formulated. The judges were then asked to score each painting individually and top scores were calculated by a computer and awarded at the ceremony.
Upcoming artists’ work was judged by five renowned artists. PHOTOS: HUMA CHOUDHARY/EXPRESS
“This is the first time such a systematic method of scoring and calculation for a prize has been used”, said Faisal who was stunned by the awards’ response.
NCA faculty member Kiran Saleem’s 24 by 24 oil on canvas painting titled the “untitled” won the first prize and got Rs200,000 as a reward. “Arjumand Painting Award is a brilliant initiative taken by Gallery6,” she said.
Saba Zahid was awarded the second prize and Rs150,000 while Zainul Abideen won the third prize and Rs100,000. Appreciation awards were given to other artists with brilliant submissions as well.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 19th, 2015.
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