Handicrafts to the forefront

A colourful work in batik

Nadia Anwar used child art in her work of applique and batik. Three dolls were seen on the fabric background, one of African origin, wearing green clothes, with another cuddly doll in the centre with striped clothes, and the last a cute stuffed toy. This was purely decorative and was based on the artist's experience at a school where she teaches. A mixed media work by the same artist brought in cats surrounding a bowl, which once bore three fish.

Another batik work by Farhana Ferdousi presented two rare birds a holude bou and a dhanesh. They were seen sitting on a tree with wild flowers. It took the artist a week to complete it in the classroom. As she worked on the creation, Farhana progressed from light colours like white to the dark ones like blue and green. Wax played an important part in the making of the picture. Another of her creations bore three owls, seen at night time and were presented in vibrant reds and orange. The sky was colourful too.

A beautiful hand painted sari by Jagadish Chandra Roy brought in motifs of flowers, star bursts and sea weeds. This was in orange, yellow and mauve. A batik sari by the same artist depicted fish in vibrant greens and yellow on a background of black, pink and brown. Farhana's entrée was a bedcover in blocks, in paisley pattern and peacock motifs. The cushion covers in batik brought in motifs of fish and other folk designs which also included animals like elephants and goats. Flowers had also been included in the composition. In addition, hand painted punjabis and fotuas were included in the display.

The inaugural day had brought in prominent artists like Abdus Shakoor Shah, Abul Barq Alvi and Farida Zaman. It was a gala occasion, fit for the coming Eid.