International Museum Day: Peeping into cultural heritage of K-P

Around 99 photographs of archaeological sites, historical buildings and sculptures were displayed at the exhibition.

PESHAWAR:

Peshawar Museum arranged a photographic exhibition on Wednesday, which was International Museum Day, in order to educate locals and foreigners about the rich cultural heritage and history of Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

A total of 99 photographs of archaeological sites, historical buildings and sculptures were on display at the exhibition.

Archaeology and Museums Director Saleh Muhammad Khan, after inaugurating the show told The Express Tribune that the province has a rich culture and a number of tourists visit the province each year to explore it.

The government, he said, has established nine museums in K-P to promote cultural heritage of the province. He further said that efforts were being made to preserve historical buildings in the city. A large number of schoolchildren also visited the exhibition. Soha, a student, said that the exhibition portrayed historical and cultural heritages of the province, describing it very informative. She noted that though they had studied about Ashoka and Buddha in textbooks, but today was their first real exposure to the statues of the two historical personalities. “We also saw old coins and the ancient culture of different regions of the province.”

Sundas, another excited student, said that the exhibition portrayed the ancient culture of the province, adding that architects built these buildings skilfully. “We saw old ornaments, ancient traditional dresses and statues of Buddha which were very interesting,” she added.

Mahnoor, another student, said that these old buildings depict how the province looked centuries back. “We have studied about archaeological sites in our Pakistan Studies book, but today we got to see it with our own eyes.”

Peshawar Museum Curator Fidaullah Sehrai told the students that the photographs and paintings of old Qissa Khwani Bazaar, Chowk Yadgar, Mohallah Sethian, Misgaran Bazaar and Rehman Baba’s tomb had their own history. Qissa Khwani Bazaar was famous for its professional storytellers, who recited ballads and tales of war and love to traders and soldiers. Today the storytellers and the art of storytelling have gone but the atmosphere of the bazaar is still the same.

It is worth mentioning that the day has being observed all over the world on May 18 since 1977.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2011.