ISLAMABAD-A one-day painting exhibition titled ‘Uks-e-Aman’ was organized by PeaceFlix in collaboration with the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) and the Women Journalist Association of Pakistan here on Thursday.
Uks-e-Aman was an activity held to promote peace building in society. In the first phase of this project, female journalists nationwide, who have covered war, conflict and violence in the field of journalism, shared stories they covered with art students. Art students were selected from various art institutes, Fatima Jinnah University, Quaid-e-Azam University and IMCG Korang Town. These brilliant students painted the shared stories on canvas.
As many as 17 art students participated in this initiative and produced 16 paintings and a 3-D project to represent the stories highlighting the need and ways for peace in society. Uks-e-Aman is a peace building activity organized by peace-builder Asma Bashir as a member of the PeaceFlix initiative by Global Neighborhood for Media Innovation (GNMI). The program is designed to promote peace, inclusivity, and social cohesion in local capacities. The program’s core objective is to create discourse around women’s role in peace building in Pakistan and the world.
While speaking at the occasion, Director General PNCA Ayoub Jamali said that the basis of peace is trust. The foundation of trust is transparency, and the base of transparency is shared inner experience. Art is a powerful tool for expressing inner expertise to build trust and peace.
He added that the PNCA had supported promoting exhibits and the best modern and contemporary art on the National and International scale. The Pakistan National Council of the Arts was set up to spearhead the development of skills in Pakistan.
A painting by Roshan Bakht, with the title, ‘Carving Fate’, was getting visitors’ attention.
This painting represents a story of a street boy named Noman Khan from Peshawar who worked as a servant while he joined free art academy and successfully made his art career. Khan changed his fate through hard work and exhibited his paintings at the age of sixteen.
This story was done by a woman journalist from Peshawar, Fatima Nazish. Bakht said, “Through this opportunity, I learned a lot about painting techniques. As an artist, I believe it becomes my primary duty to promote peace through my artwork. The storyline was fascinating as it depicts the harsh reality of struggling young artists. Still, it ends on a beautiful, successful path.”
Sadaf Hammad, Assistant Professor at Islamabad Model College for Girls Korang Town, said, “This exhibition is first of its kind. The idea is unique, and it engages students to create interesting artwork based on the case studies by women journalists.
The stories are the outcome of their commitment to their field. The diverse experience shared by different journalists seems amazing as artworks.”
Asma Bashir organizer of the workshop on behalf of PeaceFlix thanked the participants and said that all the students worked with great passion, and the outcome was great.
The founder of the Women Journalists Association of Pakistan, Fozia Kulsoom Rana, said that the idea by peace-builder Asma to present the stories of women journalists on canvas with vibrant colours was a unique idea, and it was not an easy goal to implement. The way art students have adapted the stories of women journalists into art is unimaginable.
Source: The Nation
