The art of narration: A journey through Karachi’s past and present

'The City of Lights Festival' kicks off with storytelling session at Zamzama Park

KARACHI: Children of the 80s and even the early 90s grew up listening to the tales of Mullah Nasiruddin and Sheikh Chilli from their elders. For the children of today, somewhat similar tales of subtle humour, which were analogous to the simplicity and naivety of the early people, came in the form of a storytelling session by Kahany Walay from the National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa) as 'The City of Lights Festival' kicked off on Friday evening at Fomma DHA Art Centre, Zamzama Park.

Dressed in a traditional white kurta pyjama with a classic red Turkish cap, Mirza Nikhattu seemed to have come straight out of the pages of an Urdu novel, in which an angry wife pesters her lazy, yet intellectual, husband to go find a job. What follows is a long day for Mirza as he ends up sleeping under a tree in the village, Jhunjhuna, that they live in. Much to his and the wife's dismay, he learns about a person like him, equally capable of doing nothing, and follows the directions of a certain bystander. He ends up in his house, whereupon looking at the belongings, he realises 'Tamam berozgar ek hi tabiyat kay hotay hain' [All the unemployed have the same nature]. What follows is a beating from his wife after a long day spent sleeping outside in search of a job.

Children and adults laughed alike as the play concluded with an interactive riddle session. "The kids in our households are pretty much informed about whatever is going on around us. The plays aim to capture exactly this, as the kids are aware of everything," said Farhan, a performer and graduate of Napa while speaking to The Express Tribune.

The three-day festival, a collaborative effort of Citizens Archive Pakistan (CAP) and 'I Am Karachi', comprises numerous art installations, mobile museums and photography exhibitions this weekend. The mobile museums in the park aim to be informative and entertaining. For instance, one installation depicts the map of Karachi's Zoological Gardens and tells the viewer that some of the trees are as old as 300 years.

Another captivating photograph that is part of the festival is the 'Happy Buggy Riding' that leads one to the streets of Saddar and adjoining Soldier Bazaar where buggy riders have their much-forgotten stations. The project, 'Victoriawallas', by Maliha Hassan Gazi is both visually and aurally appealing as when you wear the earphones, the sounds of horses tapping on the dry road and the sound of the rides echoes in the background while you look at the images. "These buggy riders are a forgotten lot of Karachi's history," explained Gazi. "I hope something could be done about them."

A lot on this exhibition is about the gone days of Karachi. However, it also comprises a major part of what the city is like today. The nightclubs of the 70s and the forgotten tunes of Sohail Rana kept alongside an installation titled '12 Seconds' by Marvi Mazhar, narrating how in just 12 seconds lives can change in Karachi, depicts a lot about the journey of Karachi during all these years.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 7^th, 2015.