ISLAMABAD: Country's first 18 days long art residency program - Heritage Live - organized by Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund and Foundation for Arts, Culture and Education (FACE) concluded at Lok Virsa, Islamabad on Monday.
Over 20 indigenous musicians including 10 maestros and 10 apprentices graduated from the programme. The basic aim was to help the vulnerable musicians to generate sustainable income by exploring alternative means, especially as Covid-19 restricted musicians' abilities to play gigs as a primary source of income.
Heritage Live introduced these indigenous musicians to new platforms for monetization by familiarizing them with digital mediums. The program taught the musicians how to utilize digital platforms like Youtube and Instagram for income generation; the artists learnt how they could monetize their talent and build a brand identity through these dynamic platforms. Experts gave in-depth sessions on content generation, editing, filming and engaging viewers on social media. They briefed the musicians on effective use of mobile phones for recording and sharing of content on digital mediums. Free of cost mobile phones were distributed amongst the musicians for them to understand and readily use the latest technologies.
Aspects of personality development and personal grooming were also explored during the program. Prominent singer and composer, Areeb Azhar taught the artists about negotiation skills and how to market talent.
Together, PPAF and FACE short-listed the artists from all over Pakistan based on the poverty scorecard. These musicians belong to marginalized areas and have limited resources for income generation. PPAF not only funded the entire program (including their traveling, accommodation costs and daily stipends so artists could participate without any worry) but also spent years effectively researching and defining the concept to ensure that the structure of the residency was conducive to the needs of the artists.
CEO, PPAF Qazi Azmat Isa lauded the artists for all their efforts and said, "For us this is the beginning of the journey, we have sown the seeds of change. It took us two years to plan and execute this program. These 18 days have proven to be highly beneficial for the artists and for us. Through this program we have reaffirmed our mandate of providing sustainable livelihood options to the marginalized communities of Pakistan and in the future we aspire to expand this program to other cities too."
One of the musicians, Wahid Allan Faqir from Sindh shared his experience of the program and highlighted how the residency enabled him to expand his abilities.
The Art Residency is a unique extension of PPAF's mandate. Through the program, PPAF has provided a learning platform to the indigenous musicians to leverage their existing skills for exploring alternative sustainable livelihood options that could reduce their vulnerabilities and make them economically secure.
The 10 maestros who were part of the program play some of the rarest instruments including Sarinda, Burindo, Raanti and Chardah, the sounds of which have long been forgotten.
The musicians who were part of the residency program include Bujla Bugti (Nur Sur Player ), Balochistan, Sattar Jogi (Murlee/Been Player) Sindh, Zulfiqar Faqeer (Borindo Player) Sindh, Ejaz Sarhadi (Sarinda Player) KP, Rozi Khan (Ishpoin player) - Kalasha KP, Ajmal Laal Bheel (Raanti Player) Punjab, Attaullah Chambal (Naqqara player) Punjab, Gulshan Jahan (Vocalist) â€" Punjab, Wahid Allan Faqir (Sindh) and Gulbaz Karim (Chardah) GB.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020