Pakistan’s cultural and creative industries can contribute $1.5 billion to the economy; all it needs is a little 'push in the right direction', a report published by the British Council says.

The report “Cultural and Creative Industries in Pakistan”, prepared in collaboration with University of Leeds, gives a detailed insight into where the industry stands and the avenues of its growth and was presented along with panel discussions organised by the Council at a local hotel attended by designers, educationalists, policymakers, and representatives of the corporate sector.

The purpose of the panel was mapped out by Peter Upton, Country Director, British Council Pakistan who said that culture is ‘social glue’ that binds society together and also serves as an ‘economic engine’. He said that there was a growing 'employability' crisis in South Asia which was mainly because of a lack of 21st century skills.

“We met hundred of practitioners and heard their stories. There were some issues that were common in all stories,” Calvin Taylor, a professor from Leeds University, said.

“Ninety-nine per cent of business activity takes place in micro, small and medium sized enterprises. Freelancers are the key people who make creative industries work.”

Taylor highlighted that the Indus region had an “interesting cultural repertoire, a style that is very unique which can be part of brand building and made globally accessible”. He said that there is very concentrated international promotion of Pakistani cultural and creative products.

The devotion that people had to produce high quality is not backed with management skills though.

“The passion for production need to be aligned with management,” said Taylor.

He also said that the key craft skills may be at threat as younger people move out of it. The youth who do enter the creative industries do it as skills are passed down in family, or they choose this career in the absence of other options.

“We need to work on the career opportunities in creative industries. Young people think this field gives a sense of adventure, and also a challenge.”

What is left out completely, for Taylor, areas of script writing, role of narrative in film, theatre, and creative literary content, which offer a lot of opportunities.

The development of entrepreneurs is highly informal in Pakistan which is mostly “learning by doing”.

“But they can be exposed to business models. They need mentoring and very few had this, usually most found their own way through."

Time to promote Lahore

“Lahore is my favourite city and it is not promoted as a destination point; it’s a cultural hub of modern art,” said Shreela Gosh, Director Arts South Asia.

“Before coming to this country I thought lawn was something green,something you shouldn’t stand on. I knew nothing of lawn festivals,”said Gosh adding that Pakistan has a lot to offer. “There are 15different types of cloth which I had thought were all cotton."

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A penny for your films

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In a panel discussion on financial support for creative businesses, filmmaker Sarmad Khoosat talked about the difficulties in getting loans and budget approved for films. "Nobody was ready to give me loan for my ideas. I produced what television wanted me to produce. Am I making what I had thought I'd be making? My dream was not to make mainstream television."

He further talked about the degeneration of theatre and originality in ideas, admitting that he had to be part of it to "survive" in the industry.

"Theatre was flourishing in the 70s but when the mainstream takes over, it changes the concept of a novel idea."

Khoosat also mentioned the plight of film graduates. "The most clueless are graduates of film-making. They spend four years in a discipline that is not recognised."

In response to these comments, representatives from the corporate sector presented their reasons for approving or rejecting creative ideas, saying that often they have to make a choice between giving loans to building a hydro plant and financing a film.

"It may seem like a good idea to invest in films but it's difficult to regulate whether the money is spent according to the budget. There needs to be an intermediary body that would perform this task," said Farrukh Khan, CEO of Acumen Pakistan.

Renowned classical dancer Sheema Kirmani was also present in the audience; she negated these views completely. She felt everything was not as simple as it was made out by investors.

"For years people asked for corporate sector's help but got nothing.Festivals like Kara film festival started and collapsed because therewas no funding."

But financial sector said it was a difficult decision for them to take.

"If we have to make a long-term investment, it needs to have a structure and product goal because we need to justify it to our stakeholders," said Zehra Aneek Mehdi Head of CSR, K-Electric. "The creative industries need a platform that we can endorse."

Another consistent issue directly related to investment was the image crisis that Pakistan faces.

"You can make as many presentations as you want to investors globally but constant negative image need to be countered with a cultural narrative, the way India is doing," said Khan.

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Finding jobs for art grads

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A prominent divide was found in the requirements of the media industry and the skill set of graduates from art and media institutions.

Amber Rana, Head of Geo Television’s Creative department claimed that when the channel started, there were no schools that were providing them with film makers, animators or graphic designers.

“When I reached out to art school for resumes, I only got CVs ofMBAs,” said Rana. “Employers are unable to find trained graduates.Those who we do manage to find are self-taught or they have acquiredskills on the job.”

The stigma attached to investing in art education in the society was also discussed, as one of the reasons for lack of trained people. “People think it’s not a good long-term investment.”

She further backed her argument by providing alarming statistics. “There are currently 77 people in Geo’s creative department, only seven have had any creative training and only three have university level education in a creative field.”

Durriya Kazi, Head of the Karachi University Visual Studies department, felt that the salary expectation was also a great determinant in getting jobs, saying that unemployment increases with education. “Students refuse jobs that they may have taken previously.”

She also said that the country needs to provide 36 million jobs in the next ten years which is close to impossible. According to her, the only solution was self-employment.