Multi-cultural festival: Promoting understanding, diversity

QAU organises festival to celebrate diverse cultures, says organiser.

ISLAMABAD:

The music blared louder than the microphone as schoolboys paraded down the football ground, furling their national flag with practiced enthusiasm. The red, black and green of the fabric shone brightly under the blazing sun at the international cultural festival organised by the Quaid-i-Azam University on Tuesday morning.

The elaborate guest list included the United States cultural section, the French Centre of cultural section, the European Commission and diplomats from Cuba, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Egypt and Palestine.

The QAU Vice-Chancellor Prof Aitzaz Ahmad inaugurated the festival.

Muhammad Asif Noor, the organiser of the multi-cultural festival, said the idea was to celebrate and promote understanding of the diverse cultures at the onset of the spring season.

The aroma of sizzling barbeque and Kabuli Pulao attracted food enthusiasts to the Afghanistan cultural stall where other delicacies included freshly-baked kulchey, a syrupy dessert and seasonal fruits such as lychee, raspberry and apple.

From little girls clad in shimmery ethnic dresses, college students in jeans and men in svelte suits, the event attracted people from various cultures at the venue. They went from one stall to the next, taking in the sights, sounds and flavours of each culture.

At the Iranian culture stall, the visitors browsed through hand-loomed carpets, ornate handicrafts and posters of the indigenous architecture, landscape and national leaders.

Azan Abu Ali, a business student at the National University of Science and Technology and son of the Palestinian ambassador, stood by his stall, entertaining the visitors.



Showcasing miniature hand-made structures of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock in his country, he pointed to a common misperception. “The issue is that the Israelis and media show this as the mosque,” he said, gesturing towards the dome above the mosque, “Whereas all this area is the mosque with different doors leading to it.”

Hatem M. Hassaballah, who stood by the stall of Egypt, eagerly talked about the traditional hieroglyphs mounted at his stall. “The writings and drawings on papyrus are copies of original art,” he said.

Among the Pakistani stalls, the visitors seemed interested in browsing through the traditional jewellery and clothing, the vibrant truck art and the spicy street food.

In the backdrop of the colourful celebration, children enjoyed rides on banana boats while adults bailed out their friends from the wildly-popular love jail.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 9^th, 2014.