A four-day festival featuring the works of displaced artisans from Swat opened here on Thursday at National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage, Lok Virsa. The event entitled 'Umeed-e-Nau' is jointly organised by the National Institute of Cultural Studies (NICS) and Lok Virsa in close collaboration with the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of NWFP and Nomad Art Gallery as a hope for better future of the new year with the dawn of new year.
The formal opening ceremony of the festival would be held on January 1st, 2010 at Hall of Changing Exhibitions within Heritage Museum, Lok Virsa. Zahir Shah, Minister for Health and Ahmed Shah, Minister for Industries, Government of NWFP have been invited to formally open the festival.
Rubina Khalid, Director NICS said the festival will focus to help the rehabilitation process of the internally displaced people (IDPs), particularly craftspeople, folk artists and musicians, from Swat, Malakand and Mansehra who have suffered a lot due to the growing wave of extremism in the NWFP province.
The festival coincides with the death anniversary of Shaheed-e-Jamhooriat Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and it will be a tribute from the IDPs of Swat, Malakand and Mansehra to the valuable services and contributions rendered by the great leader to the people of Pakistan, who sacrificed her life in war with extremists.
Artisans-at-Work exhibition with special emphasis on women artisans, Folkloric Performances, exotic Folk Dance Performances, Folk Musical Evenings, Traditional Cuisine, Children Art Exhibition and many other cultural attractions are the main features of the festival.