LAHORE: The Citizens Archive of Pakistan (CAP) organised the celebrations of 16 successful years of preserving the heritage of Pakistan at the National History Museum to mark the significance of World Heritage Day.

As per the details shared by the CAP on Wednesday, the celebrations took place at the museum, which was inaugurated as a project by CAP in partnership with the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) Lahore and the Punjab government to highlight the significance of preservation of history and culture.

To join CAP at these celebrations, prominent figures came to the National History Museum, including Kasim Kasuri, the CEO of Beaconhouse School System and a politician, Yawar Ali, the Chairman of Nestle group, and Nighat Ali, Executive Director of LGS, among others.

Visitors were provided with a night tour at the National History Museum upon arrival, providing an immersive experience through virtual reality (VR), holograms and digital installations. The virtual reality (VR) experience left visitors feeling emotional after watching the video based on interviews collected from the partition survivors.

On this occasion, CAP Founder and Patron Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy said that she felt a deep sense of pride in the spirit and shared commitment to preserving Pakistan’s heritage and culture at the CAP, “We believe in the power of oral histories and to bridge the past and the present, enriching our understanding of culture and belonging. Together, we are not just collecting stories we are safeguarding the essence of our identity for generations to follow,” she added.

“The ‘16 Years of Preserving Heritage’ project is just a glimpse of what CAP aims to achieve in the upcoming years by bridging the generational gap due to the lack of educational resources.

The successful completion of CAP’s numerous projects and the powerful response received from people has empowered the vision of CAP to keep expanding the horizon of research, education, and cultural awareness,” she added.

Fauzia Kasuri averred that it is such a great project that CAP has done; “it was a beautiful and emotional experience, as some of us are very fortunate that we were born in a free country”.

Formed in 2007, the CAP is a non-profit organisation based in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, dedicated to the preservation of history, heritage, and culture. It is the first organisation in Pakistan to have launched an oral history program in 2008 to preserve the stories of our nation’s journey and identity, including the partition of 1947 and the new realities that emerged after it. Until this day, CAP owns a digital archive with more than 5, 000 oral histories and over 600,000 images.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024