World Culture Festival presents cultural melting pot

Qawwals Rizwan and Muazzam, rock, theatre dominate day 17

KARACHI:

KARACHI

From the soul-stirring strains of qawwali to the electric energy of rock music, the 17th day of the 25-day Third World Culture Festival Karachi 2026 offered audiences a vibrant celebration of musical traditions and international performing arts.

The evening's biggest draw was Bazm-e-Qawwali, where renowned Pakistani qawwals Rizwan and Muazzam held the audience spellbound at the Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi's Open-Air Theatre. Their powerful vocals and captivating performance drew a packed house, with spectators responding enthusiastically to the timeless musical tradition. The Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali Group is made up of the two lead-singing brothers, Rizwan and Muazzam, five secondary singers who lead the choral response with vigorous hand clapping, two harmonium players and a tabla player. They perform in traditional Qawwali style - sitting on the ground rather than on seats - which they believe brings them closer to God.

They played at the annual world music festival WOMAD in Reading, England, in 1998. The group performed at WOMADelaide (the edition of WOMAD taking place in Adelaide, South Australia) in 2003. As of 2023 the group includes the two brothers, along with seven male artists on harmonium, chorus, and hand percussion.

At Studio I, American rock band Burn The Ballroom joined Pakistani artist Mustafa Baloch for a high-energy concert, bringing a different rhythm to the festival. Earlier, the band had conducted a workshop introducing participants to rock melodies, musical styles and performance techniques.

Band member Adriel Genet said it was the group's first visit to Pakistan, but would not be its last, expressing a desire to collaborate with Pakistani musicians. The artists would also be in Los Angeles for celebrations marking Pakistan's 80th independence anniversary and 80 years of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and the United States.

The festival also crossed musical borders through a workshop by Lamma Ensemble, whose artists from the UAE, Syria, Tunisia, the US and Montenegro introduced participants to Arabic rhythms and classical influences.

Cinema and theatre added further colour to the programme. An evening titled "USA Evening" screened short films from the United States and Indonesia, including Handwoven, With a Kind Regard, Down the Hatch and Solata.

Theatre performances ranged from Irish artist Murray Molloy's street production Born of Normal Parents to Dutch performer Funda Mujde's wheelchair-based "sit-down comedy", Run Funda Run. Australian artist Alex Brown, with actor Rich Lund, presented Broken Hearts on the Red Carpet at Tropfest and Other Short Plays.

With music, film and theatre sharing the stage, the festival continued to turn Karachi into a meeting point for artists and audiences from across the world.