ISLAMABAD, March 5: The National Art Gallery on Tuesday opened an exhibition of works from a recent artists' residency programme. Comprising landscape paintings, photography and installations, “Harmony & Diversity” was a testament to the transportive power of art.

“These works are artistic inspirations,” said the Swiss visitor Karin Hofer who liked most of the 45 paintings and installations created by some dozen landscapes and nature artists.

The PNCA-sponsored Artists Residency Programme invited a small group of artists to spend ten days together in the village of Tumair, outside Islamabad.

“Our goal was to bring different minds together in one place,” said Musarrat Naheed Imam, the National Art Gallery's Visual Arts Director.

The chosen artists, both men and women, came from all over Pakistan, including Islamabad, Peshawar, Quetta and Jamshoro. In Tumair, the artists were particularly moved by their surroundings.

Ahmad Habib, an Islamabad-based landscape painter, said the residency was “an inspirational experience. There was the company of the other artists, the dark clouds, the sunshine.”

Mohammad Ali Bhatti, a professor at the Sindh University of Art and Design, in Jamshoro, echoed his sentiments.

“The landscape were inspiring, but equally inspiring was the company of the other artists, with whom I had endless discussions on art and its future," he said.

According to Musarrat Naheed Imam, part of the residency's mission was “to provide an opportunity for young artists to meet and learn from senior artists,” in order to further develop the arts. A figurative painter from Islamabad, Zahra Shamil Kazmi, said her ten days in Tumair had been educational and enriching. “I hadn't painted landscapes before this, and the company of the other artists was encouraging.” Gallery I was full of visitors especially art students.

Visitors at the exhibition, which closes on March 14, seemed moved by the artists' interpretations of the nearby countryside.

A fine arts student from Fatima Jinnah University, admiring the wide range of styles and techniques, said the work reflected the artists' diversity.

“It really reflects the energy and the vigor of modern artists,” she said.