LAHORE: The Lahore Arts Council has announced a cash prize of Rs10,000 for the winner of a children`s visual arts competition in connection with Independence Day.

The earlier amount the council announced was Rs6,000. Sources said that when some experts raised objection, the amount was increased to Rs10,000.

Arts and Culture Director Zulfiqar Ali Zulfi confirmed that `we have raised the amount of cash prize for the competition to Rs10,000`.

The council is holding a visual arts competition on Aug 14 at Alhamra, The Mall in connection with Independence Day celebrations. It has invited applications from children aged between four and 12 years, according to Alhamra Art Gallery FineArts Assistant Director Minaa Haroon. She said the council would provide material to participating children, including chart papers, pencils, sharpeners, erasers, colour pencils and oil pastels.

She said the council had decided to award cash prizes and certificates to the top 10 position holders as well as Rs1,000 and a certificate to each participant. She further told Dawn that an exhibition of 19 prints will also be on display at Alhamra Art Gallery based on Pakistan Movement. The prints have been taken from Permanent Art Gallery of the council.

Lahore Arts Council Executive Director retired Capt Atta Muhammad Khan said on Aug 14 the council was also organising a puppet show and two theatrical plays for children, including Ainak Wala Jin and Taleem.

Artists from across country are expected to participate in the event. Assistant Director of Fine Arts, Lahore Arts Council, Mina Haroon said the exhibition will offer a diverse collection of calligraphy.

The exhibition is being held in connection with the month of Ramzan, a yearly feature of the council. It is aimed at highlighting the historical significance of calligraphy and its various styles.

Artists from across country are expected to participate in the event. Assistant Director of Fine Arts, Lahore Arts Council, Minaa Haroon said the exhibition will offer a diverse collection of calligraphy, Radio Pakistan reported. She said all three art galleries of Alhamra Art Centre, The Mall, Lahore have been booked for the exhibit.

Art pieces published earlier:

i) An exhibition of jewelry and a fashion show titled Colors of Pakistan held at Alhamra Art gallery, however the most conspicuous thing of the show was significant numbers of diplomats who showed up. Ambassadors of different countries including Argentine Britain Canada Japan and others besides a large number of people attended the show. Executive Director Lahore Arts Council Capt (r) Ata Muhammad Khan has said the show would be useful for the promotion of cultural values of Pakistan. The color of Pakistan was held here on Sunday under the aegis of Marper Miracles.

ii) Google celebrates the 87th birth anniversary of the ace Calligrapher and Pakistan’s most eminent and creative artist Syed Sadequain Ahmed Naqvi, commonly known as Sadequain, with a doodle. Decades back, this was the day when he was born in British India. The artist is known to have revolutionized Islamic calligraphy by giving it a flamboyant turn away from the regimented traditional works with his paintings. How prolific he was could be gauged by the fact that he left behind over 15,000 masterpieces: huge calligraphic murals, figurative art, drawings and many thousand verses of poetry in his repertoire. Despite his exceptional dexterity, he turned down the wealth and never sold his paintings.

He used to give away his oeuvres free to friends. Many greedy pseudo-art-collectors used to swindle him by taking his paintings against cheap presents. It is up to the imagination of the viewers to decipher what that cadeau used to be. He was the man who chose to depict the social evil lurking in the society as he once said, “I seek the truth and I am after reality. “I am not inspired by someone posing against the backdrop of roses in a vase or pink curtains. What inspires me is a person who has gone hungry for hours and is struggling for survival. “The expression that lights his face at the end of the day when he has finally found some scraps, that is what touches me. I am a painter of the expression of reality.”

It is aimed at highlighting the historical significance of calligraphy and its various styles. Artists from across country are expected to participate in the event. Assistant Director of Fine Arts, Lahore Arts Council, Minaa Haroon said the exhibition will offer a diverse collection of calligraphy, Radio Pakistan reported.

She said all three art galleries of Alhamra Art Centre, The Mall, Lahore have been booked for the exhibit.