One of the photographs on display at the exhibit.
PHOTO: MARIAM SHAFQAT/EXPRESS
LAHORE:
Kashf: unveiling relics of south Punjab and Sindh—a photo exhibition on Sufi shrines in south Punjab and Sindh—commenced at Hast-o-Neest on Friday.
Featuring over 20 photographs, the theme of the exhibit is premised on a journey into the nation’s spiritual and cultural heartland. The event has been organised by Hum Aahang, a student initiative to promote interfaith harmony. Islamabad-based travel photographer Bilal Ahmed said the exhibition depicted the cultural and religious harmony prevalent in the regions.
Black and white: Trading thoughts on monochrome photography
Minahil Mehdi, one of the event’s organisers, said the initiative was launched when a couple of Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) students decided to travel across south Punjab. “Everyone tends to go to the Northern Areas but we decided to travel to Sufi shrines and places of spiritual significance in the region,” she said. Mehdi said south Punjab and Sindh were still home to Hindus, Sikhs, Kabir Panthis and Muslims. “This makes the regions hubs of plurality and dichotomies,” she said.
Mehdi said while Hum Aahang had initially been established as a student organisation it had expanded to encompass travel and photography enthusiasts outside LUMS as well. Mehdi said the aforementioned journey covered the shrines of Data Ganj Bakhsh, Baba Bulleh Shah, Baba Farid, Bahauddin Zakariya, Shah Rukn-i-Alam, Sachal Sarmast, Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai and Abdullah Shah Ghazi. “The motivation was not restricted to just visiting the sites but also experiencing spirituality firsthand,” Mehdi said. She said Hum Aahang was also working on producing a publication as of now. Mehdi said it would be presented as a collection of photo essays that documented anthropological and sociological experiences of the sites visited. She said all proceeds from the exhibit would finance a Hum Aahang project conceived to support underprivileged students and youngsters from the city’s Youhanabad area.
Visiting history: Photographers praise guided tour of the Walled City
The exhibition will conclude on Sunday (today).
Published in The Express Tribune, March 13th, 2016.
COMMENTS (1)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ