LAHORE – MA Visual Arts Degree Show 2012 was kicked off at National College of Arts here on Sunday.
A number of students including Nashmia Haroon, Aneela Ansari, Wardah Bukhari, YasirAzeem, FaheemTufail, Kiran, Ayesha Maryam, Sobia Ahmed, Sana Kazi and Aisha Rahim displayed their thesis work.
A large number of art lovers and artists visited the show. The students completed their work under MA Visual Art Programme director Dr. Murtaza Jafri.
Nashmia Haroon’s works uncover the contradiction of the built environment. The idea of permanence is erased from architecture and serves as a metaphor for the nation’s institutions and society at large. Sobia Ahmed also represents a system that is falling apart; in fact it has been in crisis since the founding of Pakistan. The ideals of nationhood are in tatters because of both internal and external strife.
FaheemTufail observes Pakistani society through noticing the dynamics of simple everyday life, especially from the street level. Arfan Augustine takes local words and phrases that carry a lot of connotation, but then he covers them to create abstract shapes. Wardah Bukhari incorporates the traditions of the region to produce her contemporary pieces. In works that incorporate mirrors, Aneela Ansari comments on the idea of distortion.
YasirAzeem’s images express the kind of father-child relationship that is generally acceptable in Pakistan—one of distance. Kiran’s sickly sweet paintings represent the same wish that all children have around the world. What is interesting is that the version of the good life comes from Europe/America. Ayesha Maryam’s work is also personal. She expresses her random thoughts through text that is both legible and obscured. Ali Baba explores his own body and its surroundings. It is tied to reality and is full of sensation, yet it also transcends the corporeal and moves toward the metaphysical.