KARACHI, Sept 6: A four-day cultural festival, comprising story-telling, music and a conference being organized by a non- governmental organization, Actionaid, begins at a local hotel on Sunday evening.
Artists from all over the country will be performing at three segments — folk story telling; interactive theatre and video show; and Manganhars’ music.
The story-telling session will be held on Sunday and four stories will be told. A group from Johi will tell the story “Crusade of Sanwal Faqir.” A group from Turbat will tell the story “Hasil Comes to Karachi.”
Sharif Ragi group will tell the folk stories of Punjab. The stories are “Shah Daud di Vaar” (The ballad of Shah Daud); and “Dulla Bhatti”.
The interactive theatre and video shows will be held on Monday. A video “what are the skilled hands getting in return?” will be played and the Johi group will stage “Story of Nazeeran the Child Bride.” The Khairpur group will stage “The story of girl teacher.”
The bonded labour group, which comprises the farmers, will stage the story of “Mannu Bheel, a bonded worker,” highlighting the issue of bonded labour in Sindh.
On Tuesday, video shows “People of Thar and rain” and “No more fishing for Sabir” will be held. A theatre group from Turbat will stage play “Solani village: in search of option — better go to UAE”.
A theatre group from Bahawalnagar will stage a play “Plight of farmers in Punjab” and the fisherfolk group will stage a play “The net that catches the most.”
The Manganhaar music programme will be held on Wednesday. Manganhaar artists Shafi Mohammad Faqir (from Umerkot); Rasul Bakhsh Abro (Rohri); Mai Sohni (daughter of Mai Bhagi from Naukot); Akbar Khameesu Khan (Alghoza player from Hyderabad); Krishinlal Bheel (Rahimyar Khan); Sumarlal Bheel (Khanpur); Mohan Bhagat (Son of Faqira Bhagat); and Feroza and others will perform.
A conference is also being organized, and writers, social activists, and those people who have initiated cultural interventions for cultural change will participate. Delegates from UK, Ghana, Ethiopia, Nepal, Bangladesh etc and from all over the country will participate.