Intangible heritage: Preserving the melodies of our time

PNCA completes second phase of archival project.

ISLAMABAD:

Artists refreshed memories of the golden days of PTV by giving enthralling performances,  transporting the audience back to the age of “Waris”, “Kiran Kahani” and “Unkahi.”

This happened at the completion of the second phase of a project undertaken by the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) to document the intangible heritage of Pakistan since its inception has been completed. The book will be out pretty soon, PNCA Director General Tauqir Nasir said in a press statement on Friday.

The theme of reviving Pakistani culture and heritage formed the central theme of the seminar and the performances therein. A play consisting of various scenes from PTV’s dramas was presented to refresh the audience about the national television’s beginning days and evolution. Some of the scenes were acted out while others were screened, at times the actors simple read out their lines from behind the podium.

This was followed by a performance by two young singers Lubna Amanat and Shahista Zafar. Their beautiful voices, with the beats of tabla, harmonium and dhol, serenaded the auditorium as they sang popular Pakistani ghazals and songs.

A kathak dance performance was also part of the evening, as three young dancers, Ishaal, Haider and Umair spun a tale of love and heartbreak with their graceful movements. Ishaal, adorned in black, narrated the story of unrequited love yearning for her object of affection, swung to the beat of Fuzon’s song ‘Khamaj’. In the next performance the dancer celebrates the coming of spring clad in a colourful costume.

Haider and Umair were the stars of the night as they displayed their precise footwork and quick hand movements in synch with ghungroos. A clip of the dancers taking lessons from their teacher Zareen Panna was shown before the performance, which after seeing the good show put up by the three wowed the audience. The performances by the three young artists gave a glimmer of hope that dance is still being developed as a profession in Pakistan with big names to look up to such as Fasihur Rehman, Indu Mitha, Naheed Siddiqui and Sheema Kirmaani. The PNC has given PNCA $26,000 for the National Intangible Heritage Archive Project.

The project is a joint initiative by the Pakistan National Commission (PNC) for UNESCO, PNCA and Ministry of National Heritage and Integration. The first phase took three years to be completed.

PNC Director General Muhammad Dawood, on the occasion, announced an extension of the project for two more years to compile information on theatre, drama and dance. The archive, which will be housed on the first floor at PNCA, will add about four hundred hours of recordings from PTV and various radio shows in addition to footage from 50 other countries.

Three consultants, Kanwal Naseer(drama), Zarin Sulman Panna (dance), Sayed Arif Jafri (Music) were also hired as part of the project who are guiding the research, documentation, consolidation and archival work. Twelve students, half of them girls, were also trained and hired in four different departments with the aim of preserving cultural heritage.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 26^th, 2011.