ISLAMABAD: The exhibition titled `Art for Peace: The Young Pakistani Vision` opened at the Satrang Art Gallery at Serena Hotel, showcasing both the works of veteran artists and pieces by young people between the agesof15and23.

The United Nations (UN) had invited Pakistanis to express their vision of peace through visual arts and the response has been enthusiastic.

Various drawings, paintings, prints, sculptures and photographs have been submitted and are on display for the next fortnight.

The UN Secretary General`s Youth Envoy Ahmad Alhendawi inaugurated the exhibition and said, `Pm impressed by the quality of the artwork. The young artists have been able to clearly express their aims for peace and Pil do my best to share their messages across the world.

Mr Alhendawi added, `I am deeply grateful to the Pakistani art community, and to several representatives of member states, for making this project possible.

Director UN Information Centre Vittorio Cammarota stated, `We are truly committed to sharing messages of peace from young Pakistani artists with youth from all over the world. Art is a great messenger of peace and we will develop the `Art for Peace` collection further.

Satrang Art Gallery Director Asma Khan said, `The youth is brimming with creativity and initiative, and we are truly happy to be able to use arts as patron of a positive message and the hopeful outlook of our young Pakistanis. I am also grateful to the established artists for donating their work in sup-port of this venture with the UN.

Mamoona Riaz, a teacher at the National College of Arts, said `This is a good initiative by the UN, to spread the message of peace and bring students and established artists on the same platform.

Dhoufishan Raza Naushahi, who was observing the event, said, `The main highlight of the evening was the diversity of those who gathered together to support peace.

She added that a group of renowned Pakistani artists, including Xahra Hafeez, Imran Hunzai, Quddus Mirza, Nazir Hunzai, Shahid Youdaf, Shahid Waheed and Abbas Shah, had donated their works to the collection.

`The plan is to further develop the collection and then auction it, in order to fund scholarships for visual artists in Pakistan.

Quddus Mirza, an art critic and special advisor for the Art for Peace project, lauded the initiative.

He said, `This is a brilliant idea and a great opportunity for young Pakistani visual artists to participate in a body of work based upon peace. Perhaps, with the current situation in this country, peace is the most needed, desired and distanced entity.

Thus, inviting each individual to visualise it and contextualise it in a personal manner.

This project has benefited from the support and expertise of art historian and curator Abdul Aziz Sohail, artist Yukiko TidtenYoshikawa, visual artist Sajjad Ahmed, art writer Maha Malik, art teacher Xahra Hafeez, Ambassador of Brazil Alfredo Leoni and Ambassador of the Netherlands Marcel de Vink.

Lavinia Filippi, art critic and chair of theadvisory board of the project, said, `Art can be used as a tool for peace and help bridgedifferent cultures, religions and backgrounds in this region and worldwide.