LAHORE: The Lahore Arts Council plans to hold a series of events throughout the year to revive cultural activities under the council, its Executive Director Athar Ali Khan told Dawn.

Mr Khan said people wanted quality and free-of-cost entertainment. The council had chalked out a comprehensive plan to hold a series of culture activities this year and also introduce various kinds of performing art.

To begin with, he said, the council would organise a musical evening on Saturday (today) to pay tribute to Melody Queen Noor Jehan. Veteran singer Tarannum Naz will perform some of Noor Jehan’s popular songs.

A few upcoming singers, including Sahar Minhas, Aman Ali, Zoha Waseem, Nirsha and Samia Meraj, will also pay tribute to the legendary singer.

Alhamra Live, another event, would be held after every couple of months and feature the students of dance, music and theatre from Alhamra Performing Arts classes. The first such event would be held on Jan 26 at Alhamra Art Centre. Later, the event would also invite the audience to showcase their vocal skills.

Mr Khan said that the LAC would also organise Manto Festival in February, but its dates were yet to be finalised. The four-day festival will feature dramas produced by Mass Foundation, Azad Theatre, Ajoka Theatre and Akas Theatre.

The basic objective of the festival was to attract families so that they could enjoy quality theatre, he added.

He said that soon an information desk would be permanently established at Alhamra Arts Council for the convenience of visitors. Setting up of a stall selling subsidised audio CDs featuring live recordings of Farida Khanum, Iqbal Bano, Mehdi Hassan, Nayyara Noor, Madam Noor Jehan and many other leading singers is also under consideration. It is likely to be set up in the next few months, he added.

young artists: The Lahore Arts Council (LAC) is seeking submissions for the 15th Annual Young Artists Exhibition to be held at Alhamra Art Centre, The Mall.

The event is an annual feature of the council in which a good number of youth participate from the art institutes along self-taught artists. The age limit to participate in the show is 20 to 32 years while the last date for submissions is Feb 28.

The art disciplines in which interested artists can submit their works are paintings, drawings, printmaking, sculptures, ceramics, installations, video art and mixed media. Photography and calligraphy nevertheless will not be accepted. Each artist can submit maximum two artworks. Ten best artists will be awarded Rs10,000 cash each, certificates and shields.

Mina Haroon, assistant director fine arts of the Lahore Arts Council, said all the artists should submit a copy of their computerised national identity cards (CNICs) along with the personal details such as name, age, title of their artwork, size of the artwork in cm, price, postal address, email address, mobile number and landline number. The artworks can be submitted with Alhamra Art Gallery, 68-The Mall.

Ms Haroon said the LAC had been successfully organising the Young Artists’ Exhibitions since 2005 and this year it would held in April.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2019