8th Tehzeeb Festival and Awards honours art and artists

Karachi-based arts and culture preservation society focused on celebrating classical, folk and Sufi music

On December 17, Tehzeeb Foundation, a Karachi-based arts and culture preservation society, held the eighth annual Tehzeeb Festival and Awards on Sunday. While last year, the festival coincided with December 16 and thus was dedicated to the APS victims, this year the focus was on celebrating classical, folk and Sufi music.

The 8th Tehzeeb Festival and Awards consisted of several sessions with master performances by senior as well as young artists. Ustad Mazhar Shaggan created magic with Rubab in the opening performance and got the audience all hooked. Abdul Ghafoor Soomro changed the rhythm to Sindhi Sufi and folk music with equal ease. Ustad Shahid Hamid and the 20-year-old Muslim Shaggan also engaged the audience, with Ustad Fateh Ali Khan closing the session.

 Further, two lifetime achievement awards were presented by Tehzeeb Foundation general secretary Sharif Awan, one for legendary singer Bilqees Khanum and another to Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan’s grandson Ustad Raza Ali Khan, who travelled all the way from India to receive the award. Khanum was unable to be at the festival due to health issues.

Speaking with The Express Tribune, Awan said that people shouldn’t be surprised that we are honouring artists from across the border. “India’s entertainment industry is full of artists from Pakistan and if they can do it, it should be no big deal for us honour Indian artists too,” he stated. “In the previous years, Tehzeeb Foundation has awarded artists from India, such as Gundecha Brothers and Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt. Ustad Raza (Ali Khan) also visited and performed here in 2009. He has a lineage and half of his family resides in Pakistan, with his uncle Ustad Fateh Ali to his cousin Sajjad Ali.”

Ustad Raza Ali Khan. PHOTO:FILE

Awan talked about how this year, the festival was all about celebrating classical, folk and Sufi music and that the motive was to remind people of the positive things in life. He also touched base on his upcoming album. “Next year, I plan to launch a collaborative album of folk and Sufi music,” he shared. “It won’t be a continuation of Indus Raag but a different one with several international collaborations.”

Ustad Raza was glad to be back in Pakistan and receive the award. “Karachi is my birthplace, so it has a lot of nostalgic value to me. I have a lot of childhood memories here,” he said. “I have a few of my family members here, my uncle, my brother, and the rest of the clan so naturally, performing in front of them gives a lot of love and honour, because they are seniors.”

Later, apart from Hamza Akram Qawwal and Brothers’ qawwali session, two other sessions were dedicated to remembering sitarist Ustad Rais Khan and Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. Huzoor Husnain, Ritika Dhanja, Turab Ali, Gul Muhammad, Sajid and Shehroze Hussain, Nafees Khan, Emu (from Fuzon), and Ustad Rais’ son Farhan Khan all performed in tribute to the legendary sitarist. Whereas, Intizar Hussain and the guest of honour Ustad Raza performed and paid tribute to the latter’s grandfather.

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