MUNIR AHMED
As many as 30 students presented a galaxy of creative ideas to mark the opening of ‘Creation’, an exhibition semester-end projects, Wednesday at the Hunerkada College of Visual and Performing Arts.

The exhibition showcasing artwork form interior decorative to digital graphics, paintings, wall hangings, and fashion accessories attracted the visitors. The main feature the show were the instillations made from recycled materials. Mostly the fine arts students portrayed the prevailing social conditions in the country. The fashion design students put up textured handbooks, exclusive designs of handbags prepared from the common stuff. The students of interior design used the old furniture and used-fabrics and linen to come up with the new products. They intelligently used the thin living space to make it lively with ambience created with the lamps.

The graphic design student, Faizan Mughal’s installation was themed on ‘United we stand divided we fall’. He used barbed-wires, broken glass and hanging bottles at different heights to display the differences among the various identities and entities in the country.

Corruption was the chosen subject for Akhtar Iqbal’s installation that included a sculpture with small head reflecting the self-centeredness; two different types of arms, one to show off as a clean person with the ugly arm is used for indiscriminate corruption. He used the newspapers as backdrop to its installation, which Akhtar says reflect the ugly face of the corrupt.

Nirmal Malik displayed a number of web designs that depicted her maturity in using different icons and visuals to make them look more contemporary and aesthetically rich. Her interior decorative were also of contemporary outlook.

Sidra Amjad, Farhan Ali, Laraib Waheed, Rabahar Zia, Amna Hassan, Nosheen Arif and Ayesha Junaid also proved to be creative in recycling the old stuff to make the new pieces for living space in the house. The lampshades, cubical furniture, different shapes of centre-tables, sofas and their cushions bring new colour combinations.

Some students of fashion designs including Nadia Shinwari, Khola Ahmed, Kiran Sultan Marwat, Sadaf Mahmood, Maha, Huma Khalid, Saleha Shafiq and Rebbeca created their own textures and designs for the handbags. Sadaf came up with an unusual idea of making a handbag. She used the upper part of the jeans pant to make a nice-looking handbag. Used hand-fans and jute were also used very creatively to make some good ones.

‘Globalization’ was the theme of Rafia Malik’s installation. She used the cobweb to portray the networks of communication that on the one hand facilitate the linkages, and on the other hand, people are caught up in the web.

Azeem Khan Azeem developed a village titled as ‘Katchi Basti’. It contained all figurines reflecting the village people and cattle, houses, well, and a lake. The boundary of his installation was marked with different food grains to show the agricultural products that katchi basti produces for those who live out of this small settlement.

‘Hacking’ was the theme of an installation by Misha Pernia. She reflected the impact of the ‘black-hat hacking’ that is termed as cyber crime and ‘white-hat hacking’ that is used for positive purpose.

How the black magic is used for wrongdoings was the theme of Mawara Tahir. She created the rightful ambience with all the necessary gadgets and lights.

Rabbia Kaifi used all Christmas-balls and glittering objects to attract the visitors for her installation titled ‘All that glitters is not gold’. But, inside the room was everything that is not socially acceptable in our society.

Amna Shah, the principal said, “Hunerkada College of Visual and performing Arts is a response to the necessity that has always played a very significant part in the development of human and his milieu. It has been one of the most effective and harmless means of communication throughout the history of mankind by being a catalyst in making people aware of their situations and surroundings in effect encouraging them to become partners in the process of change. Hunerkada offers students opportunities to express their creations in a welcoming and a comfortable environment.

“Hunerkada College of Visual and Performing Arts has endeavoured to educate, inspire and train people in various disciplines of art during the 17 years of its existence. It offers four years Bachelors program in arts and design in affiliation with University of Baluchistan, as well as short studio courses.

“Hunerkada Gallery, a part of Hunerkada College, being unique in its cause spotlights fresh and imminent talent and strives to provide a launching pad for professionals and talented amateurs. The ‘Creation’ presents the thoughts of the young, and their perspectives of the society.”

Published in daily Dateline Islamabad, Jan 5, 2012
http://www.dateline.com.pk/epaper/index.php?date=2012-01-05&page_no=2