KARACHI: The fourth day of the World Culture Festival (WCF) 2026 began on Sunday with a delightful music workshop by South Korean cellist Suelki Lee and French viola player Antonin Le Faure, known as Alif Duo, who are now based in the UAE.

They first introduced their instruments to the audience, which largely comprised music aficionados and students. After Suelki mentioned the tuners that are attached to the cello, Antonin informed the audience about the big size of the cello. He said it was large because one could sit with it and not carry it on the shoulder.

Then they turned their attention to the bow with which they play both instruments. The audience was told that they’re used to amplify the sound.

After going down memory lane to apprise the attendees how she got into the field of music, Suelki, expressing her fondness for the instrument she plays, said, “The cello has the closest sound to human voice.”

After that both played a bit of Bach’s composition, putting questions to the young musicians in the audience such as the difference between major and minor scales.

Theatre

The first stage play of WCF 2026 was a physical theatre performance titled Chicha by a group from Uruguay called Grieta Teatro.

It was a one-person show, nicely performed by Betina Andarina. She, in a clown-like manner, wearing a dress that contained her props indicating various traits of her personality, drew the whole trajectory of a particular period of the characters’ life.

The crux of the story was the pangs of memory, expressed through body language. This meant, like every human being, she goes through moments of mirth and sadness, happiness and anguish, and in the process allows the audience to connect the dots of the picture she tries to paint. During her act, the artist, among other things, used Urdu phrases such as aapdekho which the audience liked.

Open mic

One of the immensely impressive segments of the festival is the open-mic session that took place in Jaun Elia lawn.

Young musicians sang their hearts out, attracting the attention of those who were around at the time. Most of them sang Atif Aslam’s songs. But the most impressive was a young man by the name of Karim who played the flute. It turned out that he’s learning the guitar at the council’s music department, but his flute playing was pretty good.

The film that was shown on Sunday evening was Wakhri directed by Iram Parveen Bilal and with Faryal Mehmood in the lead role. It was seen by a big number of cine-lovers.

Published in Dawn, November 2nd, 2026