KARACHI: The fourth edition of Adab Festival which will take place for two days from Nov 26 at Frere Hall has a rich and diverse programme. Its focus is on climate change.

Apart from the keynote speakers — Tariq Alexander Qaiser, Sherry Rehman, Zafar Masud and Arifa Syeda Zehra — there are special sessions with poets Iftikhar Arif and Kiswhar Naheed. Aitzaz Ahsan will be speaking on the Indus saga.

This was said by the founding member of the festival Ameena Saiyid at a press conference at Frere Hall on Thursday evening.

She said Adab Festival celebrates public spaces. “We want to develop community spaces and this is a festival that’s owned by Karachi. We want to create a model that other people can follow across Pakistan. We also want to provide a platform to our authors and artists, especially the young emerging authors.”

Fourth edition to be held on Nov 26, 27 at Frere Hall

Mentioning some of the highlights of this year’s event, Ms Saiyid said, “There will be a presentation and talk by Tariq Alexander Qaiser on mangroves of Karachi. We will pay tribute to Asif Farrukhi who was the co-founder of the festival. We will be launching a large number of books such as Jinnah: A Life by Yasser Hamdani. Aitzaz Ahsan will give a talk on the Indus Saga and the making of Pakistan. Novelists Bina Shah and H.M. Naqvi also have sessions. We will be launching a book by Dr Fauzia Saeed who is coming from Islamabad for the purpose. Nadeem Farooq Paracha’s book will also be launched. Javed Jabbar will be seen in conversation with Dr Huma Baqai talking about political memoir; he’s written three. There will be sessions with poets Iftikhar Arif and Kishwar Naheed. Our keynote speakers on the opening day will be Sherry Rehman and Tariq Alexander Qaiser, and on the concluding day Zafar Masud and Arifa Syeda Zehra. Apart from that, we have a standup comedy piece by Natalia Gul. It’s a packed programme”.

Deputy Director of the British Council, Maria Rahman said: “The British Council’s aim is to build connection, understanding and trust between the people of the UK and other countries through our works in arts and culture, education and the English language. We work in two different ways: we work with individuals directly and with partners. The connection we build through arts and culture transforms lives.

“We know that Adab Festival wields immense influence. We hope for its success and expansion of this literary and artistic movement in other parts of the country. We know that recently Pakistan has been at the forefront of the climate crisis. At the British Council we have brought under represented voices affected by climate change into the conversation.”

German Consul General Dr Lotz said: “I’m impressed by the diverse programme. Frere Hall is such an impressive building. I think the focus of the festival on climate change is important. It affects all of us. It’s a global challenge. It’s a problem that no single country can solve on its own. We have to work together. We have to reverse the trend that we have seen over the past couple of decades. It’s so important to raise awareness about the issue”.

Director of the festival Shama Askari thanked the team that has worked diligently to make the event possible. “This is a service to the city. Spaces for cultural activities are shrinking and we desperately need this. We’re going to have a session on the future of Balochi cinema where we will speak to actors and directors. Harris Khalique has curated a session on ‘Karachi Ka Adab’. Karachi is a melting pot. Each one of Karachi’s voices needs to be heard.”

Ms Saiyid added that Oscar winning Pakistani filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy too will take part in the event. Her four-minute films on the environment will run on a loop.

Inaam Nadeem, Huma Tassawar, Laila Jamil, Tanveer Anjum, Dr Fatema Hassan and Tariq Alexander Qaiser also spoke.

Published in Dawn, November 18th, 2022