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    Art Review: Only A Dream at Artescape Gallery

    Written by: Sana Shahid
    Posted on: July 19, 2023 | | 中文

    An Ode to My Teenage Self by Misha Sheikh

    For many artists, dreams are the source of inspiration. What goes on in their subconscious shapes their ideas that are then transferred onto paper. The resulting artworks have many layers to unravel, each giving life to a new meaning and a different understanding of what is being seen. Only A Dream is an exhibition of such work. Curated by Mahr Lak and displayed at Artescape Gallery in Islamabad, the show features 8 young artists from different parts of the country, each showcasing their own dreams, thoughts and perceptions about their surroundings in unique and captivating ways.

    Muhammad Reza Khan delves deep into the sense of peace and tranquility he finds in the mountains of his hometown in Quetta. Khan says that he was always drawn to these places but had the chance to truly reconnect with them during the pandemic, when he was isolated from the outside world. In his miniature ink & gouache paintings, he has shown a lone tree standing against a vast sky in the background. The details in his work add an almost three-dimensional quality to the visuals, inviting the viewer to look closer and captivating them. Khan’s use of color is also praiseworthy, creating pieces that are overall visually pleasing to look at.

    Shab Pur Az Sitaar-ha (The Night is Full of Stars) by Muhammad Reza Khan

    Menal Bano focuses on depicting her connection to the place she was born in. With her abstract urban spaces, she wants to highlight the patriarchal nature of the world. Her oil paintings are a colorful blend of elements we see every day but perhaps don’t always notice. There is a familiarity in her images and yet the overall pieces seem to be unique at the same time, encouraging one to notice something different each time.

    Dreamscape by Menal Bano

    Some of the most thought-provoking imagery comes from Hina Tabassum’s mind. Her work questions and explores how certain factors or events affect a person’s psychological health. Tabassum especially focuses on the damaging impact of violence on young children. Her bold artworks using metal as the canvas and rust as her paintbrush, have a unique quality. Her use of light adds much-needed depth to the scenes she has created. Her pieces may look cute at first, showing a teddy bear in various situations, but the idea darkens when one understands why the artist chose rust as her medium. Tabassum explains that the rusting metal acts as a metaphor for the corrosion that children’s minds and lives experience as a result of violence.

    A Day In My Life by Hina Tabassum

    Hifza Khan’s work takes the viewer on a journey into nature and its many aspects. For Khan, the important part of nature is not its realism but rather its healing effect. As such, she creates beautifully intricate miniature artworks that look like a collage of multiple elements. Her mastery of miniature painting deserves special praise, with each detail applied meticulously, from the feathers of a bird to the veins in a leaf. This natural amalgamation of familiar forms is made even more appealing by her use of bright colors. Each artwork is bursting with color, enough to stop anyone in their tracks and inspire them to come closer for a look.

    Symposium by Hifza Khan

    The range of work at the show is quite impressive, giving art lovers a lot to take in. Misha Sheikh has worked on the elements of nature that we regularly witness in busy cities. Subjects like trees, fruits and birds are painted with a mastery of watercolors, breathing life into her work. Fatima Kaleem explores the depths of her mind, extracting and showcasing all the people she has met or thought of in her life. Her woodcut prints have a beautiful, graphical quality to them. There’s a uniformity in the figures as well as a differentiating factor in each one. Shahid Hassan Boni’s miniature paintings depict the connection between his inner and outer selves. He combines architectural spaces and natural landscapes in his colorful artworks, often with a human figure that becomes a part of the frame.

    Feast by Fatima Kaleem

    Inshal Tahir creates the space between dreams and reality, looking into her personal desires and imagination. She does so by using the Banyan tree as the central element of her acrylic and oil paintings. Her final pieces are a surreal blend of color and organic forms, forcing the eye to jump from one point to another, trying to figure out where to start and where to end.

    Violet Waters by Inshal Tahir

    The worlds that exist within dreams and imaginations are fascinating, and Only A Dream is the perfect example of this. The show opened on July 7th to mark Artescape’s 1 year anniversary and is worth a visit for anyone who loves exploring what artists think and dream about.


    As the new year begins, let us also start anew. I’m delighted to extend, on behalf of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and in my own name, new year’s greeting and sincere wishes to YOULIN magazine’s staff and readers.

    Only in hard times can courage and perseverance be manifested. Only with courage can we live to the fullest. 2020 was an extraordinary year. Confronted by the COVID-19 pandemic, China and Pakistan supported each other and took on the challenge in solidarity. The ironclad China-Pakistan friendship grew stronger as time went by. The China Pakistan Economic Corridor projects advanced steadily in difficult times, become a standard-bearer project of the Belt and Road Initiative in balancing pandemic prevention and project achievement. The handling capacity of the Gwadar Port has continued to rise and Afghanistan transit trade through the port has officially been launched. The Karakoram Highway Phase II upgrade project is fully open to traffic. The Lahore Orange Line project has been put into operation. The construction of Matiari-Lahore HVDC project was fully completed. A batch of green and clean energy projects, such as the Kohala and Azad Pattan hydropower plants have been substantially promoted. Development agreement for the Rashakai SEZ has been signed. The China-Pakistan Community of Shared Future has become closer and closer.

    Reviewing the past and looking to the future, we are confident to write a brilliant new chapter. The year 2021 is the 100th birthday of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan. The 100-year journey of CPC surges forward with great momentum and China-Pakistan relationship has flourished in the past 70 years. Standing at a new historic point, China is willing to work together with Pakistan to further implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, connect the CPEC cooperation with the vision of the “Naya Pakistan”, promote the long-term development of the China-Pakistan All-weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership with love, dedication and commitment. Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan said, “We are going through fire. The sunshine has yet to come.” Yes, Pakistan’s best days are ahead, China will stand with Pakistan firmly all the way.

    YOULIN magazine is dedicated to promoting cultural exchanges between China and Pakistan and is a window for Pakistani friends to learn about China, especially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It is hoped that with the joint efforts of China and Pakistan, YOULIN can listen more to the voices of readers in China and Pakistan, better play its role as a bridge to promote more effectively people-to-people bond.

    Last but not least, I would like to wish all the staff and readers of YOULIN a warm and prosper year in 2021.

    Nong Rong Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of
    The People’s Republic of China to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
    January 2021









    Video message by Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed on Black Day of Indian Occupation of Kashmir



    Video message by Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed on Black Day of Indian Occupation of Kashmir, 27 October 1947, when Indian military troops forcibly occupied Kashmir illegally, claiming a fraudulent ‘Instrument of Accession’ which never existed as documented by eminent British historian Alastair Lamb! Kashmir & Palestine are examples of illegal occupation & continued Resistance to Repression! There are so many commonalities in Kashmir & Palestine: both under brutal military occupation of foreign powers, both are facing an indigenous, popular, spontaneous & widespread Resistance & Uprising, both are in violation of UN Resolutions which haven’t been implemented, both are witnessing an attempted change in the demographic balance, both are facing the use of rape as a weapon of war, both are testimony to double-standards & hypocrisy of Western powers on human rights & fundamental rights, and both conflicts have an element of racism and Islamophobia, while enduring peace, security and stability will remain elusive in both regions, South Asia & Middle East, until these issues are resolved in accordance with popular aspirations.