Restoration and preservation of damaged paintings displayed at government-run art galleries is proving to be difficult as there are no experts for the purpose.

Several paintings at Permanent Art Gallery, Alhamra Cultural Complex need restoration and preservation. Similarly, at Shakir Ali Museum, a number of paintings from the permanent collection of Shakir Ali on display are damaged. This situation is discouraging for young artists.

The Lahore Arts Council had taken an initiative and contacted some experts in Copenhagen, Denmark for restoration and preservation of the damaged paintings at Permanent Art Gallery. The experts visited Pakistan earlier this month and will return in October and hold three weeklong workshops on restoration and preservation of paintings.

Lahore Arts Council Director Zulfiqar Ali Zulfi said this project of restoration and preservation of visual artworks was being done in collaboration with a fine arts organisation in Denmark and the experts were not only funding the project but were even bearing their travel expenses.

The Punjab government has held a number of meetings with various cultural bodies to hold events on Aug 14.

Officials told Dawn a number of meetings had been held and various programmes were being designed. Alhamra Art Centre, The Mall Hall 1 had been closed for nine months due to renovation and might be reopened in August.

Faiz Ghar will be holding guitar and keyboard classes by Osman Raja from Aug 7. The classes will be held every Sunday at 4:30 pm.

The Institute of Performing Arts (IPA) is also gearing up to hold classes in various genres of dance and theatre. The classes are starting from Aug 1 (tomorrow).

Kathak classes will be held every Monday and Wednesday by distinguished classical dancer Nighat Chaudhry for basic and advanced level students.

Bollywood and hiphop dance classes will be held by the Haider Ali every Tuesday and Thursday. Theatre classes will be conducted by Imran Nafees Siddiqui every Wednesday and Friday

Fitness is also an integral part of performing arts. Mental and physical health helps one’s medium of expression; therefore the IPA is also introducing fitness classes. Yoga for health and weight loss will be conducted by Sifu Shahbaz Ali Khan every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

The IPA has been introducing new and exciting forms of expressions starting with the amazing Capoeira Workshop. Capoeira Angola is a unique and diverse Afro-Brazilian creative expression. It contains elements of dance, fight, ritual, and music. It is a community-based art form with freedom and resistance against oppression at its core. Through participating in the ritual, students of this art increase physical, mental and emotional capacities.

The IPA aims to cater to the tremendous need for performing arts where all of its forms come together under one roof to celebrate life, dance, theatre as an expression of oneself and society.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2016