Painted Dervishes

By Saadia Khalid - Pakistan Times - Lahore, Pakistan
Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Islamabad:
Portraying the whirling dervishes of Konya, a painting exhibition by Shafique Farooqi began at the Nomad Art Gallery on Tuesday.

Displaying 39 pieces, the exhibition is a tribute to Maulana Rumi, the poet, philosopher and Sufi mystic, who claimed that whirling brought him closer to God. Rumi’s followers were spiritually inspired by him and are titled as ‘Whirling Dervishes’.

The rotating movement of dervishes called Sema (Saamaa) was a source of inspiration for Farooqi, who has a Masters degree in Fine Arts from Turkey. The dervishes plant their left foot firmly on the ground, while spinning with the right one so that they find themselves above the earth, in communion with the divine.

There were two types of paintings at the exhibition, distinguished on the basis of their colour schemes. One type had highly contrastive dark strokes including shades of red, black, orange and blue, while the other group had very subtle pastel tones that blended well.

Each painting had two dots, one at the bottom and one at the top while a figure lay between them. The bottom dot symbolised the earth from which the figure levitated to the other world of spiritualism indicated by the top dot.

Talking to Daily Times, Farooqi said he used powerful colours as a medium to portray the energy and power that a dervish might feel in the state of Sema.

“These colours can provoke a real mystical feeling that satisfies one’s spiritual appetite,” he said.

Farooqi said he emphasised on the dress and the cap of the dervishes, while blurring the face, as their facial expression were not as important as their movement.

“The real task is to create a lyrical movement of the figures which ca not be created unless one has deeply observed the Sema,” he said.

Farooqi pointed out that the raised hands of the dervishes depicted their urge to go beyond the earth and to reach above the skies.

“There is a force in them which is forcing them to move faster and with more energy to obtain the ultimate goal which is to cross the limits of the skies,” he said.

Nomad Director Nageen Hayat said that the state of levitation of dervishes in the paintings creates a powerful ambience.

“One can see the energy flowing out of the paintings which have been created masterfully by the painter, depicting their powerful movement in strong colour combinations,” she said.

Hayat said the paintings create a strong connection of human beings with the spiritual world. “It is something out of the world that conveys the futility of the material symbolised by the lack of any facial expressions,” she said. The exhibition will continue till November 20.