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Octagons, circles inspire artist Latif

DUBAI — Octagons and circles make Abdul Latif Sahu’s art unique. “I love working on circular mediums,” says the Pakistani artist who is currently in the UAE displaying his art at the Pakistani pavilion in Global Village.

Putting together simple and indigenous material, Abdul Latif’s creations have been labelled as “Sahu art,” making it unique in art circles. “For me, any kind of material is appealing as I can use it to make a unique creation,” he says. “I have made 100 such pieces in eight years, and each one is different from the other,” he adds.

Buttons, seeds, fabric, leaves, flower petals, glass and wood are some of the materials used in Latif’s art form. “The basic theme of my work is to combine different elements to create a new masterpiece,” says Latif, who is a banker by profession. “I started creating this stuff only eight years ago when I happened to design available material on a home-made cardboard and after it was completed, I received great accolades for my work. It then became a passion," he says. The unique creations take at least 8-10 days to complete.

Latif’s art reflects the rich cultural heritage of Punjab from where he originally hails. “I have also had the honour of displaying my work at the Lahore Museum and Alhamra Art Gallery, also in Lahore,” he says. “Collecting the material, creating a design and gluing it together is a painstaking work. The finishing touches are given by spraying paint according to the colour scheme over the art pieces,” he explains. “It is expensive and time consuming work,” he says, adding that the skill is God-given and not copied. “Every creature on this earth has innate creative skills which can be discovered only through thorough observation, true passion and restless struggle,” says Latif.

Latif says that he brought 28 of his pieces for the exhibition in the Global Village, of which 24 have been sold for as much as Dh500 apiece. Sahu art is already gaining rapid acknowledgement, fame and reputation in Pakistan.