A dancer from Dhaka, another from India and girls from a local educational institution remained in the limelight of cultural events held in Lahore this past week. Other highlights of the week were a few exhibitions, the staging of a popular TV play and a visit by an Iranian intellectual and scholar to the city.
****************Anisul Islam Hero, a frontline dancer from Bangladesh, presented his prowess in Bharat-Natyam at the French Cultural Center in Lahore on April 15. His performance was sponsored jointly by Alliance Francaise de Lahore, the Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop and Vision, an NGO from Lahore. A graduate in economics from Dhaka University, Anisul Islam has performed in a number of foreign countries besides in his country of birth. His performance was applauded by a select gathering of people invited by the French Culture Center in Lahore.
One of the major schools of Indian dance, Bharat Natyam is the most important of the dance forms, which is practised in Tamil Nadu and other southern provinces of India. The dancers presenting this form are usually women. In it the solo dancer performs a great variety of bodily movements, which are accompanied by rhythms stamped out by her feet.
****************On April 16, students from local girl schools performed several dances at the Open Air Cultural Complex of the Lahore Arts Council under the supervision and direction of Aimi Minwala. Her dances in the films produced from Lahore studios during the 1950s and 1960s were considered a guarantee for the success of the movies. A large number of female students from different schools watched the presentations with interest.
Classical Indian dancer Dr. Uma Sharma, currently on a tour of Pakistan, in packed house, presented Kathakali dances at Hall #1 of the Lahore Arts Council on April 17 and 18. Her performances were jointly sponsored by the Lahore Arts Council and the All Pakistan Music Conference. A large number of art-loving citizens of Lahore thronged the auditorium to enjoy her presentations.
Kathakali (meaning storytelling through a recited action) originated in the Central Asian region and was practiced widely during the period the Mughals ruled India. In this form, the performers are both men and women. The dance itself is extremely forceful. The stamps of the dancers' feet are accompanied by loud drums, which play continuously throughout the performance, which is based on the rhythmic patterns of the dancers' feet slapping the floor. Her performances at the Lahore Arts were also appreciated and applauded by knowledgeable audiences.
****************The staff and students of National College of Arts, Lahore, participated in a workshop/exhibition on Environmental Art by Shaukat Khan at Bagh-e-Jinnah, Lahore on April 15. It was inaugurated by Mustansar Husain Tarrar a television celebrity and author of over a dozen books, including the one in which he has pointed towards the unchecked pollution currently going on in the mountainous northern region of the country.
It is the first time Environment Art has been created and demonstrated in Lahore for the benefit of the public at Bagh-e-Jinnah, which was led by environmental artist Shaukat Khan from Canterbury, UK. He is a pioneer in this art and is known for his outstanding paintings of botanical flowers.
Originally hailing from Lahore Shaukat came to visit his friend Aijaz Anwar, who is well know for his paintings of Old Lahore. While in the city, Shaukat thought of demonstrating his skill at environmental art to the people with the help of the NCA staff and students. He hopes that this art will convey correct message to the inhabitants of Lahore i.e., to look after the environment of their city with care and planning.
****************Former Chief Justice of Pakistan, Dr. Nasim Hasan Shah inaugurated the 14th Pakistan International Education Exhibition in a local hotel on April 13. He was taken round various stalls set up by a number of foreign universities. The visitors to the exhibition, mostly young students thronged the Middlesex University stall, being the most popular educational institution among foreign students for its meritocracy and the diversity of its student body. Dr. Raj Gill regional director for Africa, Gulf and Pakistan and Mr. Samuel Mukhlis, its Regional Manager for Gulf and Pakistan responded to the queries of the Pakistani students.
An exhibition titled Three in One by Iqbal Ahmed, Khalid Latif and Saeed Ahmed was on display at the Coopera Art Gallery, Lahore, on April 16. Hailing from Lahore, these artists spent a long time painting in different moods and conditions, which resulted in the production of over 60 paintings much appreciated by art students, critics and media persons.
****************Lahore is not a strange metropolis for the well respected and well remembered Iranian scholar and intellectual Khanum Mariam Behram. She was the director of Khana-e-Farhang, the Iranian Culture Center in Lahore during the 1960s. The people of Lahore still vividly remember the Iranian lady's inspiring speeches, which were broadcast by radio and television during the 17-day September war, which India forced on Pakistan in the first week of September 1965. With her heart-warming speeches she inspired the armed forces of Pakistan to face Indian aggression with exemplary courage and fortitude. During her visit to the city. Khanum Behram was honoured at the specially convened meetings of several social and literary organizations and her services towards the cementing of brotherly relations between Iran and Pakistan were remembered with a sense of gratitude.
****************The students of Beaconhosue School System, Canal Side Campus in Lahore staged Ashfaq Ahmed's play Nangay Paon at the Lahore Arts Council on April 16. It was playwright Ahmed's very popular play in which he tried to visually discuss the differences in the social responses of the people in different south Asian countries during the past 400 years. Naveed Shehzad, a TV celebrity and professor of English, in her presidential remarks lauded the efforts of the faculty and students in the successful production of the stage play, which was much applauded by a standing-room-only audience.