LAHORE: Distinguished scholars joined artists to celebrate cultural resistance and resilience at an event held at the Alhamra Arts Centre on The Mall.
Organised by Ajoka Theatre in collaboration with the Lahore Arts Council and Samosa Media UK, the event included scholarly presentations on the resilience of writers, poets, musicians, dancers, theatre activists and visual artists as well spectacular performances by Sheema Kermani and Laal Band.
Ajoka Theatre Executive Director Shahid Nadeem and the Ajoka Chair spoke about the purpose of the event and said Pakistani artists 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 pay tribute to the heroes of cultural resistance and celebrate their achievements.
Anwar Akhtar of Samosa Media UK talked about keen interest among British Pakistanis in the 75th anniversary of independence. He said South Asian culture was now significant part of British society, reflected by recently concluded Commonwealth Games ceremony revolving around Bhangra performances.
Mariya Afzal of British Council spoke about plans for the 75th anniversary and congratulated Ajoka for organising such a meaningful event.
After introductory remarks, a video compilation “Ushaq Ke Qaflay” was screened, which paid tribute to artists and writers who continued creative work despite imprisonment and bans. 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.
Academic-musician Taimur Rahman spoke about the role politically aware musicians have played in struggle for freedom and social justice.
Dancer and social activist Sheema Kermani shared her experiences as a dancer and dance teacher in carrying on with her work in defiance of pressures from authoritarian rulers and extremists. She also recited revolutionary Latin American Pablo Neruda’s poem about resistance to oppressive forces.
Playwright Shahid Nadeem, in his presentation on theatre of resistance, said though theatre suffered an irreparable loss at the time of Partition, groups like Ajoka and Tehrik-i-Niswan picked up the pieces and developed a potent theatre for social change movement. He said though Ajoka was now permitted to perform at arts councils, challenges of censorship and thought control had not gone away.
The last presentation of the session was by visual artist Naazish Ataullah, former principal of National College of Arts, who discussed the political and social critique by Pakistani artists, showing their works on slides.
Noted Punjabi poet Afzal Sahir and poet-activist Khalid Javed Jan of “Main Baghi Hoon” recited inspiring poems, followed by songs from Ajoka plays. A well-performed dramatic reading of the English translation of Shahid Nadeem’s play “River of Sorrow” was the next item 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 praised the play as a major contribution to Punjabi drama. Popular TV and theatre actor Samiya Mumtaz had 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 of Fehmida Riaz.
The event ended on a high note with an energising performance by Laal Band led by Taimur Rahman.
Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2022
