Art and Design

The fertile lands of Swat Valley have developed both high art – stone carving and sculpture which has no further extent after the arrival of Islam, and folk arts; practiced in a true tradition until the second half of the twentieth century. There are enough texts of historians and scholars available to understand the historical, geographical, political, and social structure of the valley, but domestic crafts have always been neglected or noticed occasionally. The preceding lines is a description of the so-called „traditional embroidery‟ of Swat, based on two envelope-shaped purses, the wedding gifts of my grandfather; embroidered in the 1920s.

The Ch’ing dynasty represents the last stages in a long evolution of techniques and decorative themes of the Chinese imperial wardrobes (Myers, 1989:126). It was further asserted in the decree of 1759 which standardized the style, accessories, and motifs for the court vestment. This paper demonstrates the function and parables of the ‘twelve imperial symbols’; also known as ‘Twelve Ornaments’, along with allied motifs on the court robes, in the light of Chinese philosophies, myths, and legends, as well as examples found in contemporaneous civilizations of the ancient world. Some of these symbols, like dragon, are very popular in modern fashion industry, for both fabric, and tattoo.

Until the end of the twentieth century, several elements emerged in the landscape of creative arts and design. New challenges and debates came into focus whether the artistic skill and expertise has to place in the column of art education, training or a share asset of both. Traditionally artists and designers, particularly in their studio practice, feel no comfort to accommodate themselves in the space of conventional research method, and such activities were considered to be the offshoots or art history or philosophical discussions. Put it on another way, academies were concerned to develop a rich and structured framework of art education which not only could train practitioners but also to keep them on the track where they might face new cultural, social and technological challenges. However, a big obstacle for artists and designers was to develop a paradigm that on the one hand could fulfill their own disciplinary necessities, and on the other to convince people outside of the field. The students and academic authorities of the Department of Art and Design, Peshawar University also came under a similar stress when they had to conduct and supervise research study not outlandish to studio practice. As such an alternative or amended methodology of artistic research became crucial; especially for the undergraduate students.

Khan Abdul Ghani Khan (1 9 14 -1 996) was the son of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, known as Bacha Khan (1890-1988) who was a  political activist. Unlike his father and his brother, Khan Abdul Wali Khan, Ghani Khan was a poet, painter and sculptor par excellence. Although he is well known as a poet both nationally and internationally, very few people are aware that he was as great a  painter and a sculptor, too. In this short paper, I try to present Ghani Khan as a multi-faceted personality neither whose paintings are 'dumb poetry' nor whose poems are 'blind
paintings' (Richter & Wells, 2008-188). I have also included illustrations of some of his paintings and sculptures for the interest of the readers.

"A picture is worth than thousand words" and "action speaks louder than speech", but how much the Buddhist artist was successful in  depicting the social setup of their time and traits - characteristic qualities, of the people. This study analyses selected scenes to discern artistic agility in revealing personalities.