Staff Reporter
President Dr Arif Alvi Tuesday noted a decline in the artistic works and underlined the need for making efforts for promotion of different genres of art including calligraphy as these reflected the overall development of a society.
He was addressing as special guest at the inauguration ceremony of three-day National Calligraphic Exhibition at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA), which was held in collaboration with the National History and Literary Heritage Division, Calligraphic Association of Pakistan and the National Language Promotion Department.
The President said in Pakistan, art and heritage required promotion as the imaginative impression had always impacted a society, resulting in its broad based progress.
He noted that those nations progressed that accorded due respect and value to their art and architecture heritage. Along with science and technology, the wheels of art also helped in moving on the path of progress and prosperity.
The Muslim civilization had close connections with the art and architecture in which they excelled with their adroitness and skills, he said, adding these trends were patterned on special direction as their calligraphic and geometric art along with architecture skills were greatly influenced with the contemporary styles.
The president referring to Istanbul’s Blue Mosque said, such like exquisite pieces of architecture always reminded the visitors about the bygone trends in the Muslims architecture.
The European Renaissance spanning over a period of about three hundred years, he observed, brought about revolution in various genres of art including poetry, music and figurative arts.
The president also appreciated the calligraphic art works at display in the exhibition saying that he was very much impressed with these pieces. The calligraphers should be in the forefront of a society, he added and assured government’s support in promotion of art.
He said for promotion of calligraphic art, it was necessary that schoolchildren should be encouraged to develop inclination in this genre of art.
Besides, making the younger people to take interest in art, they should also be encouraged to participate in tree plantation and cleanliness drives.
Expressing his optimism, the president noted that the nation has reached at the tipping point of development and was ready to become great in the comity of nations.
Earlier, the president inaugurated the third national calligraphic exhibition in which 250 pieces of 170 calligraphers were put at display.
Secretary National History and Literary Heritage Division, Dr Nadeem Shafiq Malik and Director General National Language Promotion Department Iftikhar Arif also spoke on the occasion.
They said the Islamic art and calligraphy had been deeply linked with the basic values of society. The calligraphy was the strongest symbol of Islamic art.
The calligraphic department was set up in which about 3000 students were getting training, they added.
