LAHORE: Eminent scholars joined artists to celebrate cultural resistance and sustainability at an event held at the Alhamra Arts Center in The Mall.
Organized by Ajoka Theater in collaboration with Lahore Arts Council and Samosa Media UK, the event included scholarly presentations on sustainability by writers, poets, musicians, dancers, theater activists and visual artists, as well as spectacular performances by Sheema Kermani and Laal Band.
Ajoka Theater Executive Director Shahid Nadeem and Chairperson Ajoka spoke about the purpose of the event and said Pakistani artistes had shown remarkable resilience in the face of challenges such as military rule and religious extremism. The 75th anniversary of Independence provides an occasion to honor the heroes of cultural resistance and celebrate their achievements.
Anwar Akhtar of Samosa Media UK spoke about the great interest of British Pakistanis in the 75th anniversary of independence. He said South Asian culture is now an important part of British society, reflected by the recently concluded Commonwealth Games ceremony revolving around Bhangra performances.
Mariya Afzal from the British Council spoke about the plans for the 75th anniversary and congratulated Ajoka for organizing such a significant event.
After the opening remarks, a video compilation “Ushaq Ke Qaflay” was shown, which honored artists and writers who continued their creative work despite prison and ban. They included Faiz, Faraz, Jalib, Daman, Sadequain, Ajmal Khattak, Shaikh Ayaz, Gul Khan Naseer, Fehmida Riaz, Yousaf Lodhi, Kishwar Naheed, Sheema Kermani and Madeeha Gauhar.
In the next session, Asghar Nadeem Syed and Nasir Abbas Nayyar discussed resistance and sociopolitical criticism in Urdu literature.
Academician-musician Taimur Rahman spoke about the role politically aware musicians have played in the struggle for freedom and social justice.
Dancer and social activist Sheema Kermani shared her experiences as a dancer and dance teacher in continuing her work in defiance of pressures from authoritarian rulers and extremists. She also recited Latin American revolutionary Pablo Neruda’s poem about resistance to oppressive forces.
Playwright Shahid Nadeem, in his presentation on resistance theatre, said that though theater suffered an irreparable loss at the time of partition, groups like Ajoka and Tehrik-i-Niswan picked up the pieces and developed a powerful theater for the movement of social change. He said that although Ajoka was now allowed to perform in arts councils, the challenges of censorship and thought control had not gone away.
The final presentation of the session was by visual artist Naazish Ataullah, former director of the National College of Arts, who discussed political and social criticism by Pakistani artists, displaying their works in slides.
Noted Punjabi poet Afzal Sahir and poet-activist Khalid Javed Jan of “Main Baghi Hoon” recited inspirational poems, followed by songs from Ajoka’s plays. A well-acted dramatic reading of the English translation of Shahid Nadeem’s play ‘River of Sorrow’ was the next highlight of the programme. The play was translated by Amena Chima and recently published by Sahitya Akademy in an anthology titled Plays from a Fractured Land.
Playwright Atamjit Singh, editor of the anthology, spoke from the US and hailed the play as a major contribution to Punjabi drama. Popular TV and theater actor Samiya Mumtaz played the lead role and was ably assisted by Fizza Jamal, Yusra Irfan, Naseem Abbas, Qaiser Khan, Sameer Afzal, Qurrat Taj, Fizza Tirmizi, Faizan Sukhera, Saira Salman and Rizwan Riaz.
The highlight of the session was a spectacular dance performance by Sheema Kermani, based on a poem by Fehmida Riaz.
The event ended on a high note with an energetic performance by Laal Band led by Taimur Rahman.
Published in Agim, August 14, 2022
