A national database was launched for pooling information on cultural heritage of the country on Saturday.
The centre called National Database Centre of Cultural Assets opened at Lok Virsa, Shakarparian, has been established under the aegis of National Institute of Fold and Traditional Heritage (Lok Virsa). Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) have jointly played their part in setting up of the centre.
The idea was to undertake a pilot project and then hand it over to a national governmental body for its expansion, replication and networking with other cultural bodies. The centre aims to pool up the database of cultural assets from across the country.
In this regard, Unesco has used a specific software called GIS for the projection of data of cultural assets collected from the selected areas of Chitral, Mardan, Mansehra and Multan.
For handing it over to a national cultural body, Unesco held detailed meetings with all the relevant organisations to ascertain the suitability of the institution for the establishment of the cultural database.
The facility will seek to document, preserve and disseminate Pakistan’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Lok Virsa showed its keenness to house the centre within its premises.
After a detailed survey on location visits of the sites, and recommendation of the donors which include the Royal Norwegian Embassy, Lok Virsa was finally selected as a venue for creating the cultural database. Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdaus Ashiq Awan was the chief guest on the launching ceremony. Norwegian Ambassador to Pakistan Robert Kvile, UN special envoy Rauls Engine Soyal and director UNESCO Dr Kozue K Nagata also attended the event.
In her address, the minister said, “Pakistan has a very rich and diverse culture. People living in each corner and region have their own indigenous traditions, lifestyles, craft and musical heritage, which they proudly practice in their daily life,” she added.
Appreciating the efforts of Lok Virsa, the minister said, “Lok Virsa is a unique cultural institution doing a great service to the nation by documenting, preserving and promoting the folk culture of Pakistan.”
Addressing the gathering, the Norwegian Ambassador to Pakistan Robert Kvile said that the Norwegian Embassy has for a number of years supported cultural projects in Pakistan as part of a development cooperation programme.
The ambassador said that the support had produced good results. “I am happy that we have been able to support the Unesco-led mapping of the cultural heritage of Pakistan,” Robert said.
The ambassador said that they support cultural projects because no nation can thrive without culture.
In his welcoming address, executive director, Lok Virsa said it would not be unjust to call Lok Virsa as the cultural storehouse of rare materials on Pakistan’s magnificent traditional heritage transferred from generation-to-generation.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 8th, 2011.
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