Khalid Javed: Folk beginnings

Munir Ahmed

Public sector cultural institutions have played a key role in bringing life to the capital. Just after becoming prime minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto asked famous poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz to develop a report on the scope of cultural institutions to promote culture and heritage of the land, says Khalid Javed, Executive Director, Lok Virsa.

“I was a student when Faiz Ahmed Faiz, my maternal uncle, was given the task. He finalised the report in a few weeks. Based on his report, the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) was established in March 1972 by a Presidential Order. Bhutto appointed Faiz its first chairman.”

Javed recalls PNCA initially had four departments performing arts, visual arts, folk art museum, and folklore research centre.

“I joined the Folk Art Museum in January 1973 as a Programme Executive. The RCD Cultural Institute was also established within the PNCA. It was aimed at promoting cultural harmony among the members of the Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD) — Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey. Qudratullah Fatmi, then Joint Director at the Culture Ministry, was the head of this centre.”

Khalid Saeed Butt was Executive Director Visual and Performing Arts, while Uxi Mufti was appointed Executive Director for the Folk Art Museum, and the Folklore Research Centre, said Javed.

About the name of the institution, Javed said, “Unesco was funding projects on the preservation and promotion of folk and traditional heritage. So, the National Institute for Preservation and Promotion of Folk and Traditional Heritage was much suited to the new organisation. Later, it was renamed Lok Virsa – the National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage.

“In the initial period, we did extensive fieldwork all over the country for research and collection of folk articles and craft. We launched Aghaz-e-Raabta in 1978 to take on board all the representative folk artists and artisans for the promotion of folklore.”

The construction of Lok Virsa’s own building started in 1977 after the government had allotted about five acres in the Shakarparian National Park area, said Khalid Javed. The Media Centre and the Folk Museum were the first two buildings completed in 1979 followed by the rooftop open-air theatre in 1981. The museum was inaugurated in 1983.

Khalid Javed told Dateline Islamic Architectural Heritage was the first show Lok Virsa arranged in 1979 with overwhelming participation from Muslim countries and neighbouring friends.

“Lok Mela, a popular feature of Lok Virsa, was launched in 1981. Noor Muhammad, a master artisan of block-making from Fateh Jang, was decorated with turban in a dastbardari ceremony at the inauguration. The National Crafts Council was incepted on the occasion. A seasoned politician Begum Abida Hussain was chosen its first chairperson.

“A survey of Pakistani craft was completed in 1981. Taj Bibi from Balochistan, Nigah Hussain Durani from Peshawar, Nanhay Khan from Lahore, and Muhammad Bakhsh from Sindh were the first recipients of President’s Pride of Performance Award in 1982.”

Some of Lok Virsa’s important milestones are the International Islamic Heritage Festival Saarc Festival and G-8 Nations Festival in early 1990s and the Silk Route Festival at Gilgit in 2000. General Musharraf inaugurated the Virsa Museum on August 14, 2004. Due to increasing terrorism in Pakistan, Lok Mela was discontinued in 2006 but revived in 2011.

“We have adopted a new approach of taking a mini Lok Mela to different cities of Pakistan. So far, we have arranged events in Muzaffarabad (AJK), Narowal, and Multan during 2010-11. This year, mini Lok Mela will go to Peshawar and Hyderabad.

Published in daily Dateline Islamabad, Jan 13, 2012

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