The heat and the pace of life in Islamabad have increased considerably. One has to sift through the plethora of activities taking place and then prioritize so as to attend those, which are more relevant to the cultural scene of the Capital. Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) announced that it will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first ascent to the world's second largest peak- K2.The golden jubilee festivities will be held between July 10-14.It is expected that at least 3000 mountaineers and trekkers from around the world will participate in the event.
K-2 is described as 'an awesome, killer and savage' and Italian climbers, Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni, scaled it for the first time on July 31, 1954. With around 400 local porters, a team of some 100 Italian professional climbers, technicians and scientists led by Himalayan expert, Agostino da Polenza, is already set to conquer the 8,611 metre- high mountain again not only form the Abruzzi Spur on the south face from Pakistan- the route used in 1954- but also simultaneously along the north ridge from China. Moreover, 800 Italians will come to Pakistan in connection with the celebrations.
Chogori - local name of K-2 that means 'The King of Mountains'- is a rocky mountain climbing up to 6,000 meters, beyond which it becomes an ocean of snow. The K-2 is situated on the Pak-China border in the mighty Karakoram region. So far 56 expedition teams have applied for the current season according to the Ministry for Tourisim Pakistan. The Karakoram and Hindukush, at the western end of the great mountain chain of South Asia and Central Asia, have been magnets for mountaineers from all over the world since the 19th century. Out of the 14 peaks of over 8,000 metres in the world, five including K-2, Nanga Parbat (26,660 feet) and Gasherbrum-1 (26,470 feet) are in Pakistan and there are 29 of over 7,500 meters and 108 of over 7,000 meters. But, unfortunately, most of the world is unaware about these treasures and that's why the figures of mountaineers and tourists can hardly be compared with states like India, Nepal and China etc.
The majestic and serene aura of the mountains has always attracted me. As a child I read the book 'The Far Pavilions' by MM Kaye and it left a lasting impression on me and I somehow have this fascination for the mountains as if at some level I belong to them and therefore, the incessant longing to go to them every summer. I hope that I'll be part of the celebrations that would open a door for the outside world to our rich cultural heritage and set off a commercially viable tourism industry.
The first calling was to the Alliance Francaise Gallery where an exhibition of sculptures by Hamid Alauddin was held. The Cultural Coordinator, Ms. Nabila, welcomed the guests and then invited. Jamal Shah to say a few words who was the chief guest for the evening. Jamal Shah speaks well as he speaks extempore and from the heart. He said that ' Art for me personally is a celebration of life. A celebration that includes all shades. An artist from the very day of his work till his death strives to combat his aloneness and in the process he discovers ways and means to communicate his ideas that are generated in a given historic situation. What I mean is that the artist strives in communicating the realities of his own time. And the realities become much more challenging in a country like Pakistan if someone tries to express them in three dimensional forms. Although, ironically we live in a land that is about 10,000 years old. We started from Mehrgarh and have seen beautiful developments throughout the history in the form of small figurines of mother goddesses and the dancing girls of Mohenjodaro bulls and other animals from Harappa. Gradually the land became the cradle for even more advanced culture, the Gandhara. But our situation is different and we can easily say that we live in interesting times where the irony is that expressing oneself in the three dimensional forms almost becomes sacrilegious. That is what people would like every body to believe that the religion prohibits forms sculpture, which I disagree with. The religion that most Pakistanis believe in is actually all about balance and balance is supposed to be art. Islam like communism prohibits you or discourages you from the abuse of art that is commercialization of art. That is commercialization for communication that eventually becomes dictation because it tends to condition people into zombies. In a situation like that expressing oneself in 3- D form which carries with it the worries, the struggles, the aspirations, the sorrows and the happiness of our situation in life might be at one level very very difficult to do but nevertheless becomes extremely meaningful and apt. Hamid Alauddin is a very fine artist who is a graduate of Hunerkada. His rendition in sculpture might be a bit representational, as he tends to become abstract. His concerns are more abstract and experimental. He experiments with material and form. In my view the present exhibition is not the best example of his work. I'm sure he'll go a long way but you can see the promise that he possesses.'
He thanked Xavier Lagorce, Director of the French Center, for encouraging struggling artists as he thought that it was a commendable initiative.
Hamid Alauddin said that his work is experimental. It varies with every exhibit and the title of every piece is self-explanatory. His emphasis has been on transparency with his best work done on fiberglass. The major aspect of his work is balance, how to balance a form. This is his first solo exhibition although he has participated in many group exhibitions in the past. He did his graduation in Fine Arts from Hunerakada in Lahore a couple of years back. Due to his excellence in the chosen field, he teaches in Hunerkada and Fatima Jinnah University. He is satisfied with his work and has displayed his best in this exhibition. He said that the smaller the piece, the more time it takes, sometimes even up to four months.
Background on him is that he is from Lahore, although he was born in Kuwait but shifted to Lahore at 17 years of age. He did his BSc in mathematics and physics However, he soon realized that his interests lay elsewhere. Therefore, seven years later he got his formal training in art.
The second event that I covered was that of a book launch at the Civil Junction Restaurant. The title of the book is ' Figure - the popular and the political in Pakistan' by Farida Batool.
Farida said that the major inspiration for writing this book was the confusion surrounding the cultural identity in Pakistan and to find out what exactly represents our culture. This book constituted her thesis in Masters, which she did in Australia. The research thesis was quite relevant for Pakistani audience. Therefore, she published it in Pakistan. She thinks that she might not be able to provide the answers but she might be able to make people question the assumption of what culture is all about. This book was written to invoke more questions so that people don't accept whatever is given to them as their culture or in the name of culture. She thinks that culture is sometimes designed identity.
Her specific area was to see the representation of figure, human figure and animal figure in different cultural fares right from religious posters to practices in the shrines to folk urban images of cinema holster paintings to artist representation of human form and then Gida Das, the image where the women use their body to represent certain things which actually subverts the very notion of the state and the male hierarchy. So these figurative manifestations, which prevail around but somehow people don't acknowledge them as their culture. Moreover, it has to do with the state as it has its own agenda.
Backgrounder on her is that she is Lahore based and is presently teaching at Beacon House Fashion University in Lahore. She teaches 'Arts and Society' class which introduces the students to everydayness of life in Pakistan. Therefore, she visits with her pupils different areas of Lahore and various concepts are introduced such as feminism, colonialism, consumerism and taste. For instance a visit to Data Darbar leads one to witness the consumerism of religion. The subject is very interesting as one introduces very heavy theory in a very light manner.
She was appreciative of Arshad Bhatti, the Civil Junction's director for facilitating her to launch the book in the Capital. The book is not available in the market so it was a good opportunity to introduce the book to the people. It took her three years to write this book. One year of research and two years of writing.
The research was done in Lahore and it was written as a thesis for Masters from the University of New South Wales, Australia. She is a practising artist who knows about the art's historical background in Pakistan and did her graduation from NCA, Lahore. Later on she worked in the field for seven years in various NGOs in Pakistan.However, in Australia she developed her conceptual and intellectual side by reading interesting scholars and doing cultural studies that were very contemporary in style. She got to know how people think and develop their ideas. She felt that the thesis needed to be transformed into this book so that it is more accessible to people without the inherent jargons or heavy terminology.
She is planning to write on a couple of ideas in the future as well. One is to look at how cultural identity is affected by foreign influences for example the comparative analysis between Zia-ul- Haq's and Musharraf's period. Both the times the army ruled the roost but the agendas were different as foreign countries dictated the agenda. Therefore, how Zia-ul-Haq's period is completely opposite to what one is witnessing now. It is because of the culture or is it something else that dictates the culture? Another aspect is by looking at the official policies or need of times in both the periods. Her second inclination is to write about the interesting aspects of Pakistani culture from male and female perspective and she is planning to work on this with her husband.
The week was very informative and intellectually stimulating. And at the end of it, I learned and gained a lot by covering these events and interacting with such creative people doing so much in their area of interest. Noble ideas motivate me but I work because I enjoy doing it and showing it off in front of people. So much for being a woman and her vanity!!
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