KARACHI: The recently concluded Pakistan Women Festival held a number of activities under its auspices, an art exhibition being one of them. Featuring stunning artworks from a variety of talented artists and painters, the exhibition was a roaring success. Not just paintings and watercolour hangings, but papier-mâchés, organic décor items, handmade flags commemorating Pakistan Day as well as 3D installations could also be seen. One of the most prominent of them all was a green and white Pakistani flag, painted on three windows with a 3D image of a crescent and a star. The exhibition took place all day for three days at the Global Marquee. People had the opportunity to enjoy a hall full of beautiful masterpieces and art works by a variety of artists who showcased their talents at the art gallery. Jabbar Gul, Zohra Hussain, Mehar Afroze, Margery Hussain, Shahnaz Ismail and students of Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture as well as artists from the Arts Council, Karachi took part in the exhibition. There was a colourful mix of artwork and handicrafts, with some installations that truly stood out for their distinctiveness and uniqueness. Painted on the back of four doors, an artist had depicted the varying cultural colours of Pakistan, showing ajrak, pottery designs, the changing colours Pakistan’s weather brings with it, seasonal flowers and also showing women dancing and performing, adorning flashy cultural outfits. The paintings focused on women more as it was part of the PWF ‘17. Some of the other paintings showed little beggar girls; crying on the streets, abstract monochrome designs and also men and women standing shoulder-to-shoulder depicting equality. Artist Jamal Ashiqain steered away from paintings and displayed his still life photography from his camera. Some other works were of humongous red watercolour roses, beautiful women with prominent big eyes, playing sitar and tabla and a 3D image of a half-turned rug. Most portraits were of women only caught in troubled expressions, expressing their woes and day-to-day troubles. Those were the most beautiful and the closest to reality. People had the opportunity to enjoy a hall full of beautiful masterpieces and art works by a variety of artists who showcased their talents at the art gallery The art gallery exhibition, which was part of the PWF 2017, was an open to all display, which remained packed all three days. The writer is In-charge Lifestyle at Daily Times. She tweets at @cheenaagha and can be reached at saira_a16@hotmail.com Published in Daily Times, August 21st , 2017.