Art for a noble cause
Karachi: The Grandeur Art Gallery is currently hosting a collection of paintings by the under-17 children of the Special Children’s Educational Institute (SCEI).
The exhibition is timed to coincide with the World Autism Day which fell on April 1. It is scheduled to end today.
It is remarkable indeed that even though autism is a crippling disorder when it comes to learning and communicating, yet these intellectually-challenged children show such promise.
For instance, there’s the work by a student of the institute, titled “Field of flowers”. It is a study of nature in all its colours. The field is awash with flowers of the gaudiest colours that may not necessarily match but lend the field gaiety and beauty. The fact that a child younger than 17 years did this is highly remarkable.
Then there’s another work, titled “Cricketer” with a man at the wickets, all padded up and flinging the bat as if hitting a boundary. It is what one could call semi-realistic art. Whatever the art form, what really stands out is the unmitigated talent of the child.
Alongside these are paintings by the children of Karachi American School (now the Karachi International School).
Some of these works by the International School students are impressive too, indeed.
There’s one by Nadia Babar, which is an innovation in art by itself and more than pictorial — it is a script —discussing all human situations in life, happiness, grief, complexities, vagaries, and how to make the best of them and see the beauty that is life. It is just a script on life with the hermaphrodite symbol emblazoned across it.
Then there’s one displaying psychedelic designs, again by Nadia Babar, a highly commendable attempt indeed.
Another promising student artist is Amaial Mullick whose semi-impressionistic “Female Faces” is really eye-catching.
What’s most prominent about the exhibition is that all the works are so reasonably priced, unlike what other art galleries are nowadays purveying at fabulous six-figure prices.Proceeds from the sale of these works will go to the welfare of the autistic children.
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