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Arts of Pakistan
Arts of Pakistan
The term art refers to ‘any skill or mastery’. Art is a broad subdivision of culture, composed of many expressive disciplines. It is the conscious production or arrangement of sounds, colors, forms, movements, or other elements in a manner that affects the sense of beauty, specifically the production of the beautiful in a graphic or plastic medium. Politically speaking, Pakistan emerged as a soverign state in 1947, but the roots of its performing arts and visual arts have a common background with what was known as the sub-continent of India. Arts in Pakistan can broadly be categorized in to three sections such as:
Visual Arts:
The visual arts are art forms that focus on the creation of works which are primarily visual in nature, such as painting, photography, printmaking, and filmmaking. Visual art is defined as the arrangement of colors, forms, or other elements in a manner that affects the sense of beauty, specifically the production of the beautiful in a graphic or plastic medium. Some of the major forms of visual arts prevalent in Pakistan are as follows:
i. Calligraphy
The Art of Calligraphy, in particular, Arabic Calligraphy, has gained unprecedented patronage, enormous strength & support over the years at varied levels of society. In Pakistan, like in any other Islamic state, this traditional expression has retained its glory & inspired many a minds.
The term calligraphy is derived from the Greek kalligraphia, meaning “beautiful writing”, and is applied to individual letters as well as to entire documents; it also refers to an aesthetic branch of paleography. Calligraphy is an art that only looks good to the eye, nut conveys a strong message as well Islamic calligraphy is mutually coordinated with Arabic Calligraphy. Most calligraphers became famous by developing Islamic Calligraphy in new trend. In the earlier days, The Kufi script was known as best script due to character combination. It was considered as script for the Holy Quran. After this the Naskh script came in to use. Then all the Arabic script was written in Naskh script. As that time the Persian used to write Persian in ta’liq. They joined the both script together and the new script came in to being with the name Nastaliq.
ii. Landscape Painting
A landscape is a form of painting depicting scenery of land. Landscape is ideally done on the spot giving the artist an opportunity to capture both physical and abstract elements of nature like landforms, flora and fauna, lighting and weather conditions, and human activity or the built environment. Landscape is one of the principal types or genres of art. The impressionist used landscape painting as a vehicle for a revolution in Western Painting. In landscape, lighting conditions are very important as they determine the shades of the land.
iii. Miniature Painting
From Samarkand and Bokhara to the Eastern Shores of Benghal, the exquisite art of miniature painting has left an indelible mark on the aesthetic heritage of the civilizations that have flourished here. To be exact the Mughal era marks the high renaissance of miniature painting. Along with the magnificent monuments built by the Emperors, miniature painting achieved an excellence seldom surpassed since. In recent times however, Abdur Rehman Chughtai , Haji Muhammad Sharif & Sheikh Shujaullah blazed a new trail and a whole school of miniature painter have taken on the challenge of making this art form most contemporary and relevant to their times. Pakistan can easily boast a leadership role in this genre. All one has to do is to look at the popularity and abundance of miniature paintings that are being produced by our masters and students alike.
iv. Modern Art
Modern art is that genre of art, which rejects the past as a model for the art of the present. Hence the term modernist or modern art is used. Modernist proposes new forms of art on the grounds that these are more appropriate to the present time. Modern art is characterized by constant innovations. Modernism is generally associated with ideal visions of human life and society and a belief in progress. Modern art referred to a new approach in the field of arts placing emphasis on representing emotions, themes, and various abstractions. Artists experimented with new ways of seeing, with fresh ideas about the nature of materials and functions of art, often moving further toward abstraction.
Pop Art:
Pop art is to the point and an extrovert form of art. It is a way to embark upon personal artistic expressions that owes little to prevailing modes. Pop artists draw on a wide range of subject matter from films and advertising to comic strips and household goods, and work in numerous media, especially painting, sculpture, collage and photography. In the following pages we will be reviewing two distinct forms of pop art practiced in Pakistan. This distinct, dazzlingly colorful, bizarre and unique genre of art is an intrinsic part of our culture that we ought to take pride in but is indeed one of the most neglected one and painted by the unsung artists. So this whole section is devoted to the pop art of Pakistan:
i. Pop Art on Wheels
The art on trucks, rickshaw and buses adds color and gaiety to our transport. Trucks and rickshaws in Pakistan are the most unique form of transport the world has seen. They are such delightfully decorated reflecting the wealth, taste and status of the owner of the vehicle. Some people even consider them to be moving art galleries depicting all themes of life through its adorned artwork. Motifs of these decorations range from flowers in vases, bouquets to the pretty little landscapes. The lettering whether in English or Urdu is always ornate. Every part of the truck, rickshaw and buses is decorated, flaps, the under carriage and the hub.
ii. Cinema Billboard Art
The art of painting film billboard emerged in 90s when the two phenomena's of the visual arts and cinema combined together to bring out a new form of art called 'Cinema Billboard Art'. Cinema billboards form an integral part of the cityscape in the sub-continent and no cinema building is complete without them. However, cinema billboard painting has taken a back seat with the coming of new generation of digital billboards and the painters are fighting a losing battle of survival these days.
iii. Sculpture
Sculpture is Sclupture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping a material (stone, rock, marble, metal, wood, ivory or bone, plastic, clay e.t.c) in some form. Sculptures involves the use materials that can be moulded or modulated hence it is considered one of the plastic arts. There are various forms of sculptures like: relief, statue, free standing sculpture, bas relief, fountain e.t.c.
Performing Arts:
Performing arts is a type of happening, in which the audience is invited to witness or participate in an artistic event. Performing arts considers human body to be its medium, and seeks to explore themes and emotions through live, unique performance. Performing arts may be divided in to further categories typically practiced in Pakistan. Such as:
i. Drama & Theatre
The concept of theatre evolved in folk forms in the performance of bards and jesters which are still popular in the rural areas of Pakistan. However, theatre properly originated at the beginning of 19th century, growing out of song – dance extravaganzas staged by Wajid Ali Shah, the last Muslim King of Oudh. That was the beginning of Urdu theatre. By the end of the century, this semi-operatic drama, with its profusion of singing and dancing, its hyperbolic style of dialogue and its rhetorical technique of acting, had become the major form of entertainment in the urban centres throughout the sub-continent. The plots of these theatres derived initially from local legend and fable, and then later, from European models of the theatre. The greatest exponent, and the last, of this form of theatre was Agha Hashr Kashmiri. In mid-thirties, play houses were converted ino cinemas, and the actors, playwrights, directors of the theatres abandoned the stage for the film studio, giving the feature films the semi-operatic conventions and modes of the theatre. Some remnants of the old commercial theatre have continued to survive in small towns on festive occasions by itinert groups of players in impromptu canvas tents. The arrival of commercial theatre in Lahore was in the early 1980s. During the hey-day of the commercial theatre, the need for writing serious and realistic drama was felt by the new urban middle class people. A large number of plays were written in that time, Mirza Qalich Beg, Abdul Halim Sharar, Maulana Zafar Ali Khan are amongst the few who wrote various playes but these plays were not performed and remained written in literature.
ii. Puppetry
Puppetry is one of the most ancient forms of entertainment in the world. Besides providing entertainment, this visual art form was also used for conveying meaningful messages. Over the years, puppetry has developed into a powerful medium of communication as it offers a real challenge to the imagination of viewers and creative ability of the presenters. This art is probably the least restricted in its form, design, colour and movement and at the same time least expensive of all animated visual art forms, In its traditional form, a Puppet is a handmade doll of cloth that represents various objects like people, animals or forms. They are made to look like those objects being represented. This type of toy is movable in all respects. For instance as for the puppet of a man, the hands, legs, often eyes and head are movable. These movements are made using threads, sticks or by wearing the puppet directly on the hand. The people who conduct these movable objects are called puppeteers. Puppeteers generally make the puppets move like a real character. One or more Puppeteers synchronize and make them perform on a song or story. This is called Puppetry. Its just like a theatre play where various puppet characters play different roles and the voices are given by artists or the puppeteers.
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Re: Arts of Pakistan
hummmp!
very nice sharing
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Re: Arts of Pakistan
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Re: Arts of Pakistan
