L'Árt Pour L'Ártel by Sasha Scheherzade


Creativity is as diverse and boundless as imagination which is chiefly why each artistic formation bears an idiosyncratic manifestation that makes his talent flawless and timeless. For a true artiste, his envisaged and finished artifact is like a babe that gets care and nourishment until its ultimate growth. There will never be another substitute for creativity no matter what medium an artist chooses to express provided,  “l’art pour l’art”, which is to say the intrinsic value of art, and only its true form whether arts or crafts, is divorced from any didactic, moral or utilitarian function and the expression is complete in itself such as that of ARTEL.

   Photo - artelbybinaali.com


ARTEL, has slowly but surely surfaced amid the happening disarray of different art forms, and is now noticeable in an exquisite lounge that offers most unique craft form, designed and introduced by Bina Ali.


   Photo - artelbybinaali.com


“Artel was initially a brainchild of me and three of my friends Maisam Ali, Fazal, and Shazia. And I remember we started off in 1995; while experimenting with pure pottery, paper bags, handmade paper products etc, because we wanted to do something unusual and the factory used to be my parental apartment,” says the contemplative crafter. Speaking about her studies and work she fondly asserts, “I went to NCA, Lahore in pursuance of my degree in Textile Design and after my graduation in 1998, joined Al-Karam as a freelance designer. ARTEL stayed and our breakthrough arrived with our first exhibit showcased at Pearl Continental which was an instant success and which meant the world to us,” says Bina with a hint of glint in her eyes. 



   Photo - artelbybinaali.com

Initially, the crafts were created from sawdust, recycled paper and hand glazed terracotta tiles. ARTEL’s claim-to-fame was sawdust, which was inspired (and subsequently experimented) as a result of gathering plenty of sawdust, scattered at a friend’s studio, and which eventually yielded appealing results as the end product was the first of its kind to be made in Pakistan.  It was acknowledged well and proved environment friendly.

   Photo - artelbybinaali.com


In the meantime, Bina also worked as a part time teacher at International Textile College at Karachi and Lloyd’s as an Art Teacher. She also served at Inter Graphics as an Art Director albeit feeling displaced with computer graphics-seldom her arena.



   Photo - artelbybinaali.com

In 2001, ARTEL erected a kiosk, designed by the love of her life and life partner, Ali Mustafa, at Park Towers, that stood there till the turnover in 2007, when ARTEL Lounge finally threw open its bright doors. 



   Photo - artelbybinaali.com

 ARTEL Lounge displays an array of assorted crafts that includes laboriously done pieces ranging from as little as beaded jewellery to different forms of kaleidoscopic stoneware, wall hangings to as grand as terracotta embedded in furniture and wall fixtures, with each piece lovingly hand crafted and then painted to perfection--announces of Bina’s devotion. Bina’s ARTEL romances with the historic aboriginal art combined with that of contemporary designs carrying with it subtle hints of Indus Valley Civilization’s art form. The basics are fine lines, zigzags, dots, waves; formation of which every design tells a different story. There is space chased by a muddling mishmash of different patterns, yet done in a proper order. The look of the craft is achieved by adding a splash of bright color and then the finished glaze, grants the objet d'art, a timeless touch. 


                            Photo - SashaScheherzade

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