KARACHI: Artists from 141 countries have been finalised to take part in the World Culture Festival, which will be organised by the Arts Council of Pakistan from Oct 30 to Dec 7.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Arts Council President Ahmed Shah said the theme of the festival is global connectivity for peace and environment.

He said his team has been preparing for the event for the last one year. “Things have been finalised. It’s an honour for us that artists from 141 countries will take part in the festival. They include 37 countries from Africa, 41 from Asia, 36 from Europe, 11 from South America, 13 from North America and three from Australasia,” he said.

He said there will be 45 theatre performances, 60 musical performances, 25 dance performances, 25 workshops, 15 talks, and six art exhibitions. “There will be an exhibition of artists from 25 countries which has never happened in Pakistan.”

Mr Shah said the ceasefire in Gaza was relevant to the festival. “We are doing this festival for peace, to create awareness about the environment, for people-to-people connectivity and as soft diplomacy through culture. We are doing what foreign ministries need to do.”

He said the theme of the festival is global connectivity for peace, global connectivity for environment, and soft diplomacy through culture.

“We have been approached by a number of filmmakers and artists from India. I’m not taking their names because Modi’s terrorist government can cause them harm. We have also received films from Israel. Some of them are in favour of Palestine. But because of our policy and our state’s policy [we can’t show them.]”

Provincial Minister for Culture Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah said last year’s culture festival garnered a great deal of attention and international artists were taken care of in a commendable way.

“We can see commotion all over (jalao gherao), and in that scenario culture projects a soft image of the country. Cultural activities in Karachi have been taking place on a regular basis. A few days back, it was Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai’s urs, during which Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor, Balochistan chief minister and on the last day PPP chairman were invited. Shah Latif centuries ago gave the message of love.”

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2025