Maria Aslam opened the ADA Awards by proclaiming, “Tonight is the night we will make history, you will make history, Pakistan will make history.” But was history made? It remains to be seen.
The first biannual Architecture Design Art (ADA) Awards were held in Karachi on Saturday January 19. Some of the city’s most prominent designers and architects gathered at the Sindh Governor House where they rubbed shoulders with young, up-and-coming talent. While the event itself was a fairly bumpy ride, President Arif Alvi as well as Governor Imran Ismail were in attendance, a victory for those pushing for government support for the arts.
About the awards
Launched by ADA Magazine and supported by the prestigious Aga Khan Awards for Architecture, the ADA Awards were the first celebration of Pakistani excellence in the disciplines of art, design and architecture combined. While award competitions within each of these fields already exist, there is great value in a collective show as it brings more attention to the winners, allowing them access to a larger network of professionals.
A female-led initiative, the ceremony is the brainchild of Maria Aslam, architect and founder of ADA Magazine. Aslam intends to celebrate and showcase Pakistani talent nationally as well as on a global stage, stating, “these are the minds that impact our minds, but the younger generation is unaware of these artists and designers who are making a difference in their day to day living.” Creative work is more often than not overlooked in Pakistan and the Presidents presence at the ADA Awards undoubtedly grants the event more weightage.
Each of the three disciplines, art, architecture and design, were chaired by a respected member of the fraternity. The chairs worked with the ADA team to curate award categories and they later facilitated the jury during the decision making process.
Can our local artists afford the recognition?
The ADA Awards received over 300 submissions in 3 months from Pakistani nationals residing in the country and abroad. These submissions were filtered down by an interim jury before being presented anonymously to the final jury which comprised of experts from Pakistan and around the world, representing countries such as Turkey, Lebanon, Iran, Italy, Singapore, France and the UK.
However, there was far too much focus on international exposure at the expense of local talent.
The ADA Team prioritized the travel expenses of foreign jurors over a lower submission fees for domestic creatives
Art jurors were unable to judge four of the nine categories, Printmaking, Photography, New Media and Video Art, due to low quality and quantity of submissions. Art Chair Sameera Raja, a trained architect and founder of Canvas Gallery, told Images that they did not receive any submissions for two categories and the submissions for the other two categories were not of a high enough standard, she and other members of her jury blamed the Rs. 5,000 submission fees, stating it is was far too hefty for a young, struggling artist.