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A couple of enjoyable stage plays and exhibitions of paintings, Spanish film festival, a book launching ceremony, the annual Urs of Data Gunj Bakhsh and the observance of International Women Day were the main features of events during last week.
The Jashn-e-Baharaan (Spring Festival) continues in Lahore. It will last till March 23. In its wake, a number of programmes were presented by different social and cultural organisations and Government College University.
Salman Shahid's 75-minute play 'Saaey' staged at Lahore Arts Council for two consecutive evenings (March 6-7) was a fresh presentation of an old play, which was staged again as a part of the spring festival. Its plot revolved around the lives of an old married couple who were involved in extra-marital affairs and pointed to the torments inflicted on them with the erosion of time, especially when each one of them had a secret love affair with their opposite sexes. The moral of the story was that the immoral activities of an older generation affect the lives of succeeding generations. Scripted by stage-TV actor Salman Shahid the play attracted a large number of fun-loving residents of the city.

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"The Importance of Being Earnest" was the name of a popular Oscar Wilde play, which was staged at Lahore Arts Council's Alhamra Cultural Complex from March 8 through 11 by a group known as KB Thespians. Written in 1895, it is a comedy of manners, which was presented in three Acts. The story of the play begins from the flat of Algernon, a wealthy young residents of London, who pretends to have a friend named Bunbury, who lives in the countryside and frequently complains of ill health.
Whenever Algernon wanted to avoid an unwelcome social obligation, or just got away for the weekend, he made an ostensible visit to his "sick friend". The idiosyncrasies of the character as the story develops provide hilarious moments to the attendees in the hall.
The cast of the play was drawn from different educational institutions of higher leading mostly of Lahore. Immad Muzaffar, an engineer by profession directed the play, which was enjoyed by a large crowd of the Lahoris. It was the second presentation by KB Thespians.
Madiha Gauhar, the founder-director of Ajoka Theatre is the first Pakistani artiste who was received the prestigious Prince Clause Award of 2006 at a formal ceremony held at the Lahore Arts Council on March 9. The prize carried an amount worth Euro 25,000. The ceremony was attended by a selected gathering including provincial Secretary for Culture and Youth Affairs, the principal Secretary Royal Norwegian Embassy, Islamabad and prominent people from different walks of life, especially human rights activists, stage and television. In the speeches made by the guests on the occasion recalled the contributions made to the theatre by Ms Gauhar during the past several decades.
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The third Spanish film festival opened at National College of Arts on March 5. The festival, which screened the movie 'La Colmena' on the first day was enjoyed and appreciated by a large number of students and members of the faculty. It was jointly sponsored by the Embassy of Spain in Islamabad, the honorary consul general of Spain in Lahore and the National College of Arts. It was the third such festival of films held at NCA.
The story of the film screened on the opening day of the festival sets in the winter of 1942 when the people of Spain were hungry, tired and were suffering hardships but had the strong will to survive. The urban scene of post-war Madrid was skilfully captured in the film. Other films shown during the festival were 'Los Santos Inocentes', 'Soldados de Dalmina', 'El Sol del Membrillo and 'El Milagro De Candeal'. The film, which was appreciated the most by the attendees was 'Los Santos Inocentes' screened on the second day of the festival.
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Late lawyer and littérateur Ejaz Batalvi was paid rich tributes at a function held at Nairang Art Gallery in Lahore, where his book Ejaz-e-Byan was launched on March 3 in the presence of a selected audience. Compiled posthumously by his son the book consists of his selected short stories, literary write-ups on and critical subjects and his reviews of several books authored by the same of his contemporaries. Among the attendees, who spoke on the life and achievements of late Ejaz Batalvi were Ejaz Faqiruddin, Amjad Islam Amjad , Mukhtar Masood and Salman Ejaz a son of late Batalvi.
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The proceedings of the three-day annual Urs of Syed Ali Hajveri a.k.a. Data Ganj Bakhsh commended on March 8 when Punjab Governor Khalid Maqool laid a wreath on the tomb of the Sufi saint. Present on the occasion were leading Ulema, elite of the city and a large number of devotees, who had converged on the shrine from different parts of the country and abroad. Salient features at the observance of the death anniversary of the saint were recitations from Holy Quran, a grand Mehfil-e-Samaa and naats rendered by well-known crooners. The Punjab Auqaf Department had made elaborate arrangements for the devotees.
The Ejaz Art Gallery hosted a weeklong exhibition of paintings by Iranian artists Ehsan Ghaemi and Ali Raza Majidi, which opened on March 6. Ghaemi expressed his joy over his second visit to Lahore. During his first visit to the city he had put his paintings on display at the National College of Arts where he appreciated the teaching methodology at NCA. In his opinion there were more art lovers in Iran than in Pakistan.
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A group show of paintings and miniatures was opened at Coopera Art Gallery on March 9, which was inaugurated by Mrs Bridget Davison, once a long-time resident of Lahore, who especially flew from London for this purpose.
Over 35 senior and up-and-coming artists, including Dr Ajaz Anwar, Saeed Ahmed, Naila Aamair, Khalid Latif, Rahat Masud, Saima Muzaffar among others put up their paintings at the exhibition. The inaugural ceremony was attended by a large number of art lovers, students and teachers. The exhibition will remain open till March 24.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2007

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