Calligraphy exhibition, contest ends

LAHORE:A weeklong calligraphy exhibition titled” Jamaliyaat” ended at Alhamra Art Gallery on The Mall on Thursday. The event was not just an exhibition but a calligraphy contest as well in which four best artworks were awarded cash prizes of Rs50,000, Rs30,000, Rs20,000 and Rs10,000 for first, second, third and fourth position, respectively.

Provincial Finance Secretary Abdullah Sumbal was the chief guest on the last day of the exhibition and workshop. He presented the cash prizes and certificates to the winners. The finance secretary said Alhamra is the main platform for the promotion of arts. The art of calligraphy is a reflection of Islamic traditions. "The Calligraphy Exhibition and contest was a great step taken by Alhamra to create room for the young souls and encourage them to show their calligraphic skills to the world. I appreciate the efforts of Lahore Arts Council for the promotion of art and culture all over the world,” he stated.

The winners included Usman Ghani from Gujranwala, first position, Rashid Ali Sajjad from Karachi, third position and Rehmat Ali from Rawalpindi, fourth position. Lahore Arts Council Executive Director Saman Rai praised the artists and termed the art of calligraphy an intellectual legacy of Muslims.

She said that through the week-long calligraphy, exhibition, workshop and the calligraphic contest, LAC provided a platform to the youths for learning the skills of calligraphy and showcases their talent to a larger audience at the national and international level. She said Alhamra is thankful to all the artists for their participation. She also congratulated all the winners of the contest.

“We hope to continue this exhibition and workshop in the upcoming years with more zeal and improvement,” she added. During all the days of the week-long exhibition and the workshop, the audience was thrilled to see the diversity of calligraphy artworks that were displayed in the gallery. On the last day of the workshop, a large number of people came to see the exhibited artworks and said that all the works are exclusively phenomenal from one another. At the end of the event, certificates of appreciation were given to the workshop participants.