Cultural week: At IIUI, students celebrate diverse cultures

Students recreated cultural, traditional and pictorial aspects of different countries.

ISLAMABAD: For Aulia, a student of Economics from Java, being attired in traditional dress is a matter of pride. He was dressed as Gatotkaca — a popular mythical figure in Indonesia who can fly in to space. Like other students at International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI), he was taking part in a two-day cultural fair on Wednesday, an opportunity for him and hundreds of other students to exhibit their cultures on the inauguration of cultural week.

The theme of the 25th Cultural Week is “Youth and National Leadership.” The event aims to highlight the lifestyle and traditions of IIUI’s students from over 40 countries. Indonesian ambassador Burhan Muhammad inaugurated the 25th cultural week and delegations of faculty members and students from various varsities thronged the event.

Students representing their countries of origin including Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey, China, Jordan and Indonesia had set up stalls displaying cultural items. Each group of students was assigned a country to recreate its cultural, traditional and pictorial aspects, from national outfits to serving traditional food.



“This is the way to show our culture and depict the problems of our country which is occupied,” said Palestinian student Haitham Naser while pointing towards pictures of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the brutalities of the Israeli Defence Force.

Stalls were housed in individual tents, making it seem as though one was moving between countries while walking through the festival. Photographs and posters were put up in stalls to showcase the country as part of the background along with plants native to the region to lend an air of authenticity.



One of the biggest stalls was set up by Afghan students, which was decorated with traditional guns, stones and historical pictures, apart from which they had erected a typical home and a makeshift mosque.

Poetry, painting, photography, cooking competitions, games and a book fair are also part of cultural week. A prize distribution ceremony will be held on March 29.

The cultural fair for women will begin at 11am today.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 27^th, 2013.