Lahore: Contemporary art pieces at Digital Art Festival

The opening ceremony of the four-day digital arts festival, which started in Lahore, was held at the museum on Wednesday, with the participation of many renowned artists.

In the festival, 74 artists from 14 countries including Germany, Austria, America, UK, France, Italy are participating in the exhibition at nine different locations in Lahore along with more than 130 digital artworks.

Speaking to Independent Urdu, festival curator Najamul Asrar said that digital artists are not given space to exhibit in museums and art galleries.

‘They say your art is computer generated so you can’t be a real artist.

“When I started this festival six years ago, my aim was to bring this work to museums and today the work of digital artists is being exhibited here at the Lahore Museum, which A sign that digital art is as much art as the work of a painter or other artist.’

He said that earlier the digital art festival used to be online so that the whole world could see it, but this time he planned to hold it in Lahore so that people can also call this festival their own.

He further said that all the artists participating in this festival have a goal to promote digital art so that people can see it. ‘There is no money to come to the festival. We hope that efforts will be made to continue such festivals in the future as well.’

The digital art festival includes digital prints, illustrations, 3D animations and interactive art.

Rashid Rana, Dean, School of Visual Arts and Design, Beaconhouse University, told Independent Urdu: ‘The festival is giving young foreign artists an opportunity to showcase their work here, which is in the digital medium.’

He said: ‘Using new media is liberating for young artists because they don’t have to carry the burden of culture. If you’re an older artist, you’re expected to have a glimpse of the past in your work, but because new media don’t have precedents in the past, they feel completely free to work.’

According to Rashid, the festival includes artists from all over Pakistan who are getting a chance to meet artists from different European countries.

Rashid says: ‘In conventional art, the public thinks that if they go to a gallery, they will not understand art. They are afraid.

‘Now because all of us are using technology in our lives. Everyone is using smart phones, everyone takes pictures, videos, so they are familiar with these tools. So when they see this work, they can relate to it and feel it.’

French artist Justine Emard explains her Somnorama masterpiece: ‘It’s actually an astronaut’s sleep during a space journey.

‘My work is also created in 3D in real time, creating the brain waves that occur in an astronaut’s brain while he sleeps in space.’

“I think this festival is empowering a lot of young artists to meet each other and create a network, which helps each other to move forward,” Anantun Zala, an artist from Germany, told Independent Urdu. And this thing will have a huge and positive impact on new media art in Pakistan.’