RAWALPINDI: An art exhibition titled ‘Thar and Water’ opened at the Rawalpindi Arts Council (RAC) on Wednesday.

The exhibition, which features the works by Krishan Samaro, explores how life in the Thar Desert revolves around water, and the problems facing women in the area.

The exhibition was inaugurated by Additional Commissioner Coordination Tariq Mehmood Tariq, and attended by a number of people from both Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

All 28 of the pieces on display were oil on canvas. The artist is also from Thar, and his works depict the struggles of women who try to feed and care for their families while fetching water from distant areas.

The works were layered and textured – whether it was a trailing dress, a pitcher hoisted delicately atop a woman’s head, traditional huts and caravans with camels, the endless desert terrain or empty images to symbolise death.

All of the paintings featured pitchers or pots of water, in order to emphasise the value of water in the desert and the importance the substance holds in the lives of local residents.

“The pitcher is most valuable thing in our area as it represents life. The women carrying pitchers were painted to create awareness among the people that they struggle a lot in harsh weather to keep their family and house in order,” Mr Samaro told Dawn.

Some of the works also capture natural life in the area. Peacocks, snakes, herbs and vegetation depict how animals and plants suffer without water.

Mr Samaro is a teacher at the I-10 boys’ college.

He told Dawn that he belongs to Samaro, a small town in the Umerkot district of Sindh. Mr Samaro earned his postgraduate degree from from the University of Sindh Jamshoro in Hyderabad, in 2003.

“I’ve moved to Islamabad but I remain within the hold of nostalgia. The exhibition is not only of my work but of my feelings about Thar,” he said.

Speaking at the event, Mr Tariq said the Thar desert has always captured the imagination of arts, but Mr Samaro is unique in his expression and treatment of his subjects. Rather than painting a fantasy, he said the artist brought realism to the subject of water in Thar.

RAC Resident Director Waqar Ahmed said the artist’s work was simple but impressive.

“The [artist] used different colours to depict the situation. In a portrait of a Hindu widow, Krishan tried to inform the people of society’s behaviour towards the widow as she is wearing a simple dress instead of Thar’s traditional colourful dress.

“He also presented portraits of older women, to tell us that women in their 60s and 70s are fetching water for their family in Thar,” he said.

The exhibition will run until May 28.

Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2016