Reaching out through art Meena Ahmed

Back in the 1970s, Afroze G. Ali, a Karachi based artist, was so moved by the black and white newspaper reproduction of a painting that she used it as the basis to create her own huge canvas.
Now, more than three decades later, her painting, "The dancing flames" has become a way for her to reach out across the border to people in India.

"The dancing flames" takes its genesis from a painting by the late Soghra Begum (wife of late Ozzir Zuby) who was inspired by a scene from"Shakuntula", a play performed at Shanti Niketen, Calcutta.
As an artist, Afroze's forte is landscaping but is equally trying her hands on calligraphy, following in the footsteps of her elder brother, Syed Ashfaq Ghani. This is the only piece she has done which is different. Inspired to create it after seeing the black and white newspaper photo without knowing its original colours, she enjoys the play of different and vibrant colours in her painting. She feels that her work gives the feel of transformation of musical melody into the colours of waves. In addition to that Afroze plans to write a book on landscaping too.

With the launch of Aman ki Asha, Afroze found a new meaning for her painting, which she retouched a few months ago. And all the way from one end of the huge metropolis to the other end, she came to meet the team of Aman ki Asha lugging along her huge canvas.

Talking to The News, she said she would like it to be presented as a gift to the people of India. She also dreams of being able to visit her hometown, Hyderabad, Deccan and Mumbai to meet her extended family that she last visited almost a decade ago. Besides, she aspires to visit Jaipur for vacation. "I'm very inspired by Indian art and the work produced by the some Indian artists and therefore wants to visit India."

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

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