KARACHI, Nov 15: The new block at the Arts Council will help not only the country’s emerging talent but also fine tune the talent of established artists, said Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad while unveiling the plaque to mark the beginning of the construction of a new six-storey building at the council on Thursday.

Prior to the unveiling of the plaque, Arts Council Karachi President Mohammad Ahmed Shah with the help of a visual presentation briefly talked about the features of the structure. He said the building would have an academy, an audio-visual library, a reference library, a TV/film studio, an auditorium and an accommodation facility for the artist fraternity. He acknowledged the grant of Rs120 million given to the Arts Council by the governor for the project.

The governor said it was important to promote art and culture in the city and the construction of the building was the need of the time. He said an auditorium had already been functioning at the council, which was booked for the whole year round. It indicated how cultural activities had gathered pace in recent times. He pointed out that such vibrancy was required in society.

The governor said the project would help promote our cultural legacy and provide opportunities to the young generation to prove its mettle. He mentioned the emerging talent would benefit from the project while known names in art would also be able to fine-tune their skills.

Replying to a question regarding the worsening law and order situation in the city, the governor said he had met people belonging to different spheres of life and had worked towards promoting religious and sectarian harmony in the city. He told the media that he also had a meeting with the business community and had taken steps because of which the situation had improved a great deal. The governor also touched on the festival, which was to culminate the same day, at the Arts Council being attended by 5,000 youths and argued that activities such as these would prove beneficial to bring about a positive change in society.

After that the governor went inside the auditorium where he distributed prizes among the winners of different events of the youth festival.—PS