Tag: artist

  • Pakistani truck art flies high

    Pakistani truck art flies high

    Pakistan’s renowned truck art will move from the highways to the skies, as a flying academy has decorated a two-seater Cessna aircraft using the colourful technique.

    In recent times, Pakistan’s colourful truck art has grown increasingly popular in the West. With elaborate and flamboyant motifs, Pakistani truck art has inspired gallery exhibitions abroad and prompted stores in Western cities to sell miniatures. In fact, UNESCO has been using this unique art blended with indigenous motifs to communicate messages on girls’ education in Kohistan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

    “We want to show the world that Pakistan is not all about Financial Action Task Force and terrorism issues; it’s a very diverse country and a land of opportunities,” says Imran Aslam Khan, chief operating officer of Sky Wings, a flight training organisation.

    He also plans to paint other aircraft, with the aim of promoting tourism in Pakistan.

    Read more – Did you know Pierre Cardin also designed uniforms for PIA?

    “The world is familiar with our truck art representation; now, with this aircraft, our colours will fly in the air. We are really excited,” said Haider Ali, the artist painting the aircraft.

    Ali who is now 40, has been decorating trucks since his childhood. He was trained by his father and now he is one of the most prominent such painters in Pakistan.

    He also hopes to paint an Airbus or Boeing aircraft in the future, saying an opportunity to work on such gargantuan planes would truly be a learning experience.

  • Nine artists who may make it big in 2021

    Art is something we all love but few have the eye to determine which artist might be the next big thing. On a popular Pakistani Lifestyle Instagram account called Bhindifries, an NCA graduate and miniature artist, Ayesha Jatoi lists her favourite artists for 2021. Jatoi decided to reflect on 2020 not by the grief it gave, but by the potential for 2021. Jatoi’s recommended top nine Pakistani artists to look out for are:

    1. Fazal Rizwi:

    Like Jatoi, Rizwi is also an NCA graduate. This Karachi based artist blames his love for art to lead him to explore the dimensions of the sea and internal turmoil. Rizwi believes that the two main reasons for mental conflict are your soul and your family. That’s primarily why he bases his artworks on conceptual minimalism.

    2. Mahrukh Bajwa:

    Since this list has quite a few candidates from NCA, Bajwa is another one of them. This lady’s large charcoal sketches convey the unbiased observations of the outside world from the perspective of the mind.

    3. Alyssa Mumtaz:

    Mumtaz is an American Muslim whose mixed media art highlights the importance of ordinary objects in a unique way as her tools can range from a mere string or colour pigment to gold or silver.

    4. Faraz Aamer:

    Another NCA candidate with an extraordinary mastery in artist books, he tries to use his artistic expertise to highlight human conditioning due to societal influences.

    5. Lujane Pagganwala:

    A graduate of Indus Valley, Pagganwala shifts her focus from paper to sculpture, to bring her thoughts to life.

    6. Sahyr Sayed:

    Another NCA graduate and sculptor who efficiently uses miniature sculpting to make sure that the viewer is not devoid of any details. Her work featuring woman empowerment was appreciated on forums like Dawn Newspaper.

    7. Maryam Atiq:

    She employs the use of collage paintings to grip the attentions of the admirer.

    8. Ayesha Sultana:

    A BNU graduate with a Bangladeshi origin, Sultana is a minimalist who uses her artwork to transcend international boundaries.

    9. Kainat Jillani:

    Last but not the least, Jillani is a mixed media painter who has everything in her toolbox to create magic.

    Credit : @bhindifries

  • Lebanese artist turns blast debris into symbol of hope

    Lebanese artist turns blast debris into symbol of hope

    Lebanese artist Hayat Nazer created a symbol of hope from the Beirut blast debris which shocked the world in August 2020.

    The woman statue stands nearly three meters tall with her arm raised, the wind whipping the hair away from her scarred face, and a broken clock at her feet with the hands showing 6.08, the time that a blast ripped through Beirut port on the evening of August 4.

    The statue is made of broken glass and twisted materials that belonged to people’s homes before the explosion that killed 200 and injured 6,000 and symbolizes the city’s hopes of rising from the rubble.

    “If you look at the statue, one half has a leg standing, the hand looks surrendered, there is a scar on the face with the flying hair and the clock on this side, as if the explosion is still happening,” Nazer told Reuters.

    “But the other hand and the other leg is leaning as if it is starting to walk and the hand is raised, it wants to continue, it wants to keep going and rise from the rubble. And this is the truth, this is our truth,” the 33-year-old said.

    She says those affected by the blast who saw the 2.6-metre statue, temporarily exhibited in front of the damaged port, drew strength and hope to carry on.

    Nazer had already started on a female sculpture before the blast, but volunteered to help clean up destroyed houses and streets. At night, she would return to the sculpture, using the glass and metal pieces she had collected.

    “I felt like Beirut was a woman who despite what she suffered is very strong,” she said.