“...The town is silent. The night boils with eleven stars.

Oh starry starry night! This is how

I want to die.”

— The Starry Night, Anne Sexton

Tito Lessi, a famous Italian painter of historical subjects, once said: “Poetry and paintings are similar in a way that they make ‘absent things present’ in their own way of imitating reality.”

The University of Sargodha recently organised a wonderful exhibition of 50 contemporary artworks at Institute of Art and Design, following several amazing sessions and discussions on art, literature and society to develop critical thinking among the students.

During the incredible exhibition, people were virtually invited to feed their creative curiosity and challenge themselves with the intellectualism of contemporary pieces of art produced by Ahmad Bilal, Nirmal Bano, RM Naeem, Shahnawaz Zaidi, Asrar Hussain Chishti and others. Among the fifty art pieces, guests find an intriguing variety of artistic media, including fibre-glass sculptures, photography, painting and wooden sculpture.

Monotonous hues, distress and melancholy were the elements that the artists chose not to depict in their work. They offered a brief study of nature with new techniques and ideas. The conceptual work expressed opposing qualities such as organic and artificial, masculine and feminine, inner positivity and negativity.

Artworks produced by Ahmad Bilal, Nirmal Bano, RM Naeem, Shahnawaz Zaidi and Asrar Hussain Chishti mesmerise viewers at the exhibition.

The obscure nature of the artworks invited viewers to leave their comfort zone. The fragrance of culture and traditional art style with modern approach of every individual artist was the essence of the show.

Along with this exhibition, there was a solo show by Asrar Farooqi, who learned creative painting under the guidance of Mansoor Rahi.

The display of sceneries comprising diverse colour palettes was soothing to the eyes. A noteworthy fact about the overall display was that each artist carried the theme in their individual style. This made it easier for the onlookers to recognize the masterly pieces making strong statements one after the other. The participants were encouraged to be part of such events.

Mubashar Naqvi is a media researcher and freelancer based in

Muzaffarabad, AJK. He tweets @SMubasharNaqvi

Maheen Aziz is an art,  entertainment and culture

journalist and can be reached at mmaheenaaziz@outlook.com