A visitor at the first day of the three-day photo exhibition of 90 heritage sites takes a journey through an exceptional mosaic of culture and history. PHOTO: ATHAR KHAN/EXPRESS
KARACHI: Sindh, a home to many archaeological and historical sites and the birthplace of the Indus Valley Civilisation, offers a rich cultural heritage. The landmarks offer an opportunity to journey through an exceptional mosaic of culture and history. To give a glimpse of what Sindh’s heritage sites looks like, a three-day photo exhibition, ‘Sindh Heritage — a Pictorial Journey’ — of nearly 91 historical sites — has been organised by the Sindh culture department at Frere Hall.
Sindh Assembly speaker Agha Siraj Durrani inaugurated the exhibition on Tuesday. “Such events are needed as these bring peaceful life and release the tension prevailing in the city,” Durrani said. Many delegates from all over the world were present at the ceremony.
Gandhara Art and Culture Association director Park Kyo Soon said, “I have only seen The Priest-King statue in picture but here I saw the picture of when it was actually discovered and it is a very touching for me.” Talking about her organisation, she said, “I will surely arrange a picture gallery for the heritage sites of Sindh.”
Supriya Banik Pal, an Indian delegate from Kolkata who is here to publish her paper on ‘Sindh or Sindhu, a study through Mahabharata’, said she wants to visit the sites and not only look at the pictures.
“This beautiful collection of photos gives a clear idea of how rich the culture of Sindh is,” said Russian consul-general Oleg N. Avdeev. “Moen jo Daro civilisation is also very clearly depicted in the photos and looks like we are physically there.”
Dr Muhammad Ali Shaikh, vice-chancellor of Sindh Madressatul Islam University said that by inviting international delegates to this exhibition, we provide them an opportunity to enrich themselves with the cultural richness if this province.
“Out of the 129 devolved sites in Sindh, we selected 91 for the display,” said Sharmila Farooqi, special assistant to the chief minister on culture, while talking to The Express Tribune. “Next time we will organise it on a bigger platform with more historical places,” she added. “People who cannot visit the original sites can just go through this gallery and have a pictorial tour of Sindh’s history. This will not only increase their knowledge but will also increase tourism.” Her department is planning to make schools and colleges visit these historical places.
Widow of Hakim Ali Zardari and stepmother of Asif Ali Zardari, Zareen Ara Zardari, thought the two-day exhibition was not enough for the public. “It should be open for families and students for days,” she said. “This is a good gallery organised at a very low cost,” she added. Dr Michael Jansen from Germany was of the same opinion. He said it should be a permanent gallery.
On the second day of the exhibition on Wednesday, attendance was very thin as only a few families visited the gallery.” They did not promote the event properly in the institutions,” said a worker at Frere Hall. “There are so many beautiful places to explore in Sindh that we don’t need to go abroad,” said Rukhsana Younis, a media student of FUUAST.
“Now we know that there are around 90 places we can also visit, I never knew that Sindh was this rich, thanks to this pictorial journey,” said a housewife visiting the gallery. After the exhibition ends today, the paintings will be shifted to National Museum.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 27th, 2014.
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