Written by: Haroon Shuaib
Posted on: February 28, 2024 | 
| 中文
A painting by Abdullah Nadeem
Pablo Picasso said, “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” The same joy can be obtained by doing service for the weakest and most vulnerable forms of life on earth: dogs, cats, and other animals around us that are lost, abandoned, neglected, injured, sick or abused, often considered stray or as they say in Urdu, Aawara (free and independent). It is exactly this emotion that motivated Rimsha Jalil, and her artist friends to put together a one-day group art exhibition titled Aawara, in Islamabad on Monday, 27th February, 2024. The exhibition put up at Dahlia, a cafe that has opened its doors in Islamabad about six months ago, was a heartwarming endeavor, uniting art with animal welfare. Hundred percent of proceeds from sales have been donated by artists and the curator to Todd's Welfare Society, which has been working to bring ease to suffering animals since 2016. Dahlia, which is closed on Mondays, volunteered to provide the space for the exhibition and play its part. The cheery and chic backdrop of Dahlia was the perfect setting for the eclectic and unconventional nature of the exhibition.
A painting at the exhibition by Fazal Ahmed
Reflecting on the thought behind the effort, Rimsha said that: “Aawara (stray) animals, are precious and must be protected from mistreatment and cruelty. Aawara animals, are just as worthy of love and deserve kindness and compassion as much as any other animal. All the artists were open to donating some of their best works for the cause. Some are friends, and some are friends of friends. The one thing in common between all of us, is our love for animals.” The other common factor between the artists taking part in Aawara is that they are all involved with the advertising agencies in creative departments. This inevitably means that they were eager to innovate, experiment and break out of the boxes that define the confines of conventional boundaries of art. For Rimsha, art is all about processing the deepest, most painful emotions and displaying them onto a canvas in the form of abstractions.
A painting on display by Rimsha Jalil
Aawara displayed works of eight young artists besides Rimsha, including Mustafa Yazdani, Fazal Ahmed, Uzair Mirza, Ammar Ashraf, Zain Bukhari, Kirin Bashir, Mustafa Yazdani, Abdullah Nadeem and Izza Chaudhry. Fazal who also had a few sculpture pieces on display besides his painting is definitely the most seasoned of the lot with over 20 years of experience. An advertising agency guru, he focuses on capturing the bittersweet essence of human condition through his art. Kirin’s digital was a surrealistic amalgamation of elements of nature that invoked wonder.
Abdullah Nadeem’s pieces were displaying his obsession with astronomical phenomenon to create symbolic artworks that pose astral and metaphysical themes. Zain’s sole digital art piece titled Back to Life/Ministry of Dreams explores themes of dystopian existentialism and eerie modernism. Izza Chaudhry is also no stranger to experimenting. She switches techniques and color pallets to create something refreshing. Mustafa Yazdani, who likes to paint, write, and model focuses on the human and animal anatomy to create ethereal pieces that evoke delight through his art. Uzair Mirza’s three 3-d digital art pieces Revival, Ornamental Space, and Find Me expressed existential angst through maximalist design styles and macabre elements.
A painting by Mustafa Yazdani
Ammar Ashraf, a film director by profession and an artist by passion, focused on encapsulating joy through ethnic portraits. The most interesting aspect of his work at display at Aawara titled Shades of Joy, was that it was AI generated. He has created some joyous frame where the unlikeliest of humans are seen interacting with the improbable pets. The joys that both humans and animals are bringing to each other can be seen through the shine in their eyes and a riot of colors around them.
Shades of Joy, an AI generated image by Ammar Ashraf
Todd's Welfare Society’s mission is to protect animals and improve the quality of life for them by placing them into loving and permanent homes; reducing the population of stray and neglected dogs and cats by promoting and providing spaying and neutering. With a vision to create an environment and animal friendly community, Todd's Welfare Society works in various ways to promote animal welfare in Pakistan including collaborations such as the Aawara exhibition to raise much needed awareness and education amongst the general public to help eliminate animal abuse and cruelty from Pakistan. It works closely with the community to trap, neuter and release street animals that will help to not only reduce the stray population humanely, but to also end the never-ending cycle of pain and suffering endured by these street animals.
A sculpture on display at the exhibition
It was heartening to see that lots of young people of Islamabad had turned up to support Rimsha and other artists in this humble effort. Interestingly, despite varied themes and moods on display, Aawara’s soul remained intact. The visualization remained ultramodern and youthful. The balminess persisted and the message of Aawara lingered long after one walked out of the show.
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