islamabad - An exhibition paying homage to victims of terror attacks, especially children of Peshawar attack, continues to attract a large number of art lovers at Satrang Art Gallery.
The moving exhibition titled “Jamaa Zarb Taqseem- Gather Hit Split” which started on December 10 featured the collection of works by artists Saad Ahmed and Agha Jandan to pay a tribute not only to the children who lost their lives in the Peshawar attack last year but also to people all over the world.
The artwork, commemorating the memory of the lives lost in the Army Public School massacre on December 16, 2014 include work on charcoal on paper, acrylic on canvas, photo etching, and aquatint. “The exhibition pays homage to all those who have paid a heavy price in the fight against terror. Words fail to describe the heartbreak experience by the entire nation and the world at this tragedy, in homage to the innocent schoolchildren, Saad and Agha have created a heartfelt collection of works which pay tribute to the innocent lives lost,” Zahra Khan, curator of the gallery expressed.
Artists are social commentators or mirrors - their work reflects social developments and historical happenings. The collection of works in this exhibition is comforting in the familiarity of what they depict, but tragically ominous in the aftermath of heart wrenching horror, reminding the viewer of the lives that were snatched away, she remarked.
Saad has created drawings and etchings of children, while others are depicted in specific stances. Frozen on paper, children stand with their arms held up by their ears, or held out at level with their shoulders, she commented. The artist has seemingly captured them mid pose during a physical education lesson, or perhaps he has depicted the last moments of their lives.
These children stand stiffly with their hands behind their heads, or their hands held aloft, almost as if they are being threatened. Saad’s bold drawings are accompanied by paintings of blackboards by Agha Jandan.
They represent regular classroom activities - visible white chalk markings of lessons on blackboards. The remnants of classes, math equations, time-tables, drawings and illustrations are familiar to anyone who has been to school, yet their unfinished, un-wiped state leaves an air of incompletion. These depictions resonate within the viewer, striking deep as the realization of finality sinks in, Zara maintained.
The artist, Agha Jandan while commenting on his work said, “My work is the reflection of my experience as a school teacher and the images I paint is one of positive hope for society. I paint blackboards in which I portray phenomenon that happens in classrooms as well as in society.”
According to Saad Ahmed, I create imagery with varied levels of connections to reality. Within that parameter I probe states of being through involuntary and enforced acts in everyday life.
The way I have used different mediums and techniques in this recent body of work is interlinked with the concept of a question mark. In a sense, through pixelated and half visible images, I am focusing on the uneasiness of unresolved questions, finding an answer to the chaos around us, Saad further expressed. The show will continue till Jan 15, 2016.