KARACHI: The Thesis Display 2024 of the students of the Arts Council of Pakistan’s School of Visual and Performing Arts is an artistic and cerebral delight.

The show, which concluded on Wednesday after a week-long run, has works on view of students of fine art, communication design and textile design.

Here’s why they deserve all the praise. Imagine turning medicines into characters or putting a bovine at the centre of the debate about ethnic violence. Aren’t these intriguing ideas? And coming from youngsters who are learning the ropes in the realm of fine art. (Since there are 10 equally good participants in the exhibition, one will refrain from discussing them individually.)

The striking thing about the show is not just the young boys and girls’ awareness of contemporariness in terms of artistic trends; it’s the empathy with which they have painted, drawn or made personal predicaments and collective dilemmas that impresses art lovers. The above two examples vindicate the observation.

In this day and age, where man has experienced a horrific pandemic, coupled with psychological ailments on an individual level that now people realise are as dangerous as physical illnesses, making artworks in which medicines get personified is meaningful and poignant in equal measure.

Similarly, imagining pouting cows in a circus that among other things contains ethnic tension is an intelligent concept. Now cows are generally thought of docile animals. But there are cultures where they are elevated to a level that not giving them respect can cause a commotion. This combination of docility and possible disruption in calmness is brainily identified by a student of fine art.

There is also the refinement of miniature work from a third-year student through which he wants the viewer not to act negatively in the face of difficulties. Miniature is arguably the most difficult art form to master and the youngster is adept at it.

Then there are a couple of differently abled students from the communication design department who have designed campaigns for a festival and packaging a product like lollypop. They are worth watching.

The artists whose works are on display are Taha Abbas, Asim Naqvi, Ramsha Khasheer, Zehra Ali, Faha Shabi (students of fine art, third year), Abdullah Ali Khan, Akram Ullah Khan and Uzaifa Khan (communication design, fourth year), Aliza Abdul Wahab (textile design, fourth year) and Sani-e-Zehra (textile design, third year).

Published in Dawn, January 23rd, 2025

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