Unexpressed emotions

Creating a positive, supportive environment that promotes creativity is necessary for youngsters as we must understand the importance of art in building a child's personality. Hence Arts for youth mean less depression, fewer behavioural problems and improved self-esteem.
Keeping all these aspects in mind veteran artists Sadequain, Azir Zubi and poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz along with other famous artists of that time together laid the foundation stone of Arts Council Institute of Arts and Crafts (ACIAC). After partition it was the first institute to teach arts in the city and contributed in flourishing local art practices and provide platform for talented youth to express themselves.
I have been attending thesis displays at ACIAC for many years but this year's final year Thesis of the students Fariha Arshad and Sadia Sohail was very impressive. Sadia Sohail emphasised mainly on the moods and expressions of women in our society. She brought those women to life on her canvas that does not come forward because of certain social taboos or restrictions from their male relatives like father, husband or brother.
She wanted to reflect unexpressed emotions of women through her portraits of women. She has chosen to paint portraits of women so she can portray their inner feelings as well as their silence which they adopt as a social norm. But silence is not the answer. Women must be recognized as a human being and a valuable citizen as they contribute so much to the society. She used glazing technique in oils to beautify as well as enhance the intensity of her subjects. The bold colour backgrounds of paintings were also indicative of fearlessness and confidence. Women portraits in modest attire not only captured the beauty of life but also agony and questions revealed through eyes and facial expressions of the women in portraits.
Soft and bright multicolour dresses in various designs and shapes were celebrating women in Fariha Arshad's works she has chosen weaving style and used this technique along with truck art on the dresses which carried a strong native cultural influence. Just like a carpet threads that have many stories weaved in them as women weave them through days her works speaks about women of different ages and backgrounds. She has chosen textile to express emotions and expressions of women in our society.
A dress code of a particular culture or region is part of the identity of people living there so various attires have many different stories and speaks volumes about the lives of women who wore them. Thus a dialogue fostered through the artworks about social issues regarding women. The artworks help creating awareness as well as continue the struggle and dream of youth for peace, equality and empowerment.
Living legend Anwar Maqsood and former Governor State Bank Dr Ishrat Hussain visited the Thesis display and appreciated the efforts of the management and students. They were amazed by the artworks of young students. I have never seen such high calibre celebrities who visited a Thesis in my career. Anwar Maqsood is himself a famous artist and he also got impressed by the artworks. He said that he can see love, passion and hard work in the thesis display of the students and the colour compositions were appealing. Moreover he said, "These youngsters must continue their journey on this path but they must always remember that the path is misty and you cannot see the destination whenever you think you have achieved a goal see clearly that the path is still there and the destination is still far away."
He said, "The youngsters must prove their ability and continue their work and next time I wanted to attend their solo shows here in ACIAC." As a majority of students' enrolled in ACIAC belonged to lower middle class their appreciation is necessary and imparting quality art education to the students is the main purpose of this institute.
The change at ACIAC is brought by renowned artist and sculptor Shahid Rassam who has been appointed Principal of ACIAC a few months ago. He also discussed future plans for the uplift of ACIAC at the occasion. President of Arts Council Pakistan Karachi, Ahmed Shah after listening to Shahid Rassam's visions about Arts education and novel ways of imparting arts knowledge and skills he got impressed and persuaded Shahid Rassam to accept the post of Principal at ACIAC.