FACE and EUNIC hold HERITAGE LIVE 2022 – Music Residency Program

Islamabad: Foundation for Arts, Culture and Education (FACE) and European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) launched Heritage Live – The music of Pakistan, a music residency program that aims to train and equip indigenous musicians with the business acumen and focuses on their promotion through social media skill development.

The program will help the vulnerable musicians to generate sustainable income and play a pivotal role in preserving the endangered local culture and musical instruments. This time, 8 European cluster members have partnered.

The countries include Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Romania.

Organizations like Goethe institute from Germany, Institute of Culture from Bulgaria, Italian Agency for Development Cooperation from Italy and Alliance Française from France supported as partners.

The opening ceremony of the music residency program was held at FACE – on May 23rd, Monday. Speaking on this occasion, Her Excellency Irena Gancheva the Ambassador of Bulgaria and representative of EUNIC in Pakistan said,

“Artists are the face of a nation, hence we must work towards the empowerment of the artist community. I would like to congratulate both FACE and EUNIC for taking a step in the right direction. The Art Residency Program will enable us to show the true positive image of Pakistan. This program will help musicians understand the digital platforms; the digital world as we all know is a diverse world. It will not only allow them in creating a mark for themselves but will give them global acknowledgement. Also the involvement of European musicians have made an exceptional difference this time, opening new horizons to collaborative and fusion music.”

The Music Residency Heritage Live is a unique extension of FACE’s mandate and commitment to empower and promote the musicians as the selected musicians face many economic problems. The Music Residency is to test a systematic approach for graduating poor musicians out of poverty by leveraging their skills in art more effectively and equipping them with other non-music skills.

Zeejah Fazli, Founder of FACE, said,

“Foundation of Arts, Culture and Education (FACE) aims to strengthen communities through music and arts and is now the largest cultural organization working on creating platforms for artists and artisans. Through our program Heritage Live, we empower the indigenous musicians of Pakistan and preserve and promote indigenous musical instruments that are on the verge of extinction through collaborations of Pakistani musicians with musicians from Europe.”

Mr. Fazli further added “we intend to create livelihood opportunities for musicians in far flung and underserved areas of Pakistan. We believe that artists are our identity, and it is vital that we give them the social recognition that they deserve. This program will not only generate economic opportunities for our artists and enable them to increase their reach across Pakistan but also will create connections with their European counterparts and foster intercultural dialogue through collaborating and co-creating music.”

The Residency started from May 23rd, 2022 and ended on May 30th, 2022 at FACE, Islamabad. Total of 14 indigenous musicians were selected for the program from across Pakistan and 10 musicians were selected from Europe.

On May 23rd and 24th, 2022, An extensive training program on social media skill development and music business was conducted during the residency by two mentors. Each musician was given a smart phone and a published manual on the above subjects specifically developed for the program.

The program guided musicians on how to utilize digital platforms like YouTube and Instagram, Facebook and TikTok for income generation and to build personal brands and business negotiation skills.

From May 24th to May 27th, Each European musician made a group with selected Pakistani musicians and went through rehearsals to produce an album of seven collaborative songs. Music videos of the songs were also produced which will be disseminated on various social media platforms.

On May 27th, 2022, an exclusive conference on Women in Music was held in Fatimah Jinnah Women University in which Women musicians from Europe along with Pakistani female singers discussed the challenges and struggles faced by women in music. A huge number of artists from the Fatimah Jinnah Women University participated in the panel discussion.

On May 28th, 2022, the performance showcase of their collaboration was held at Lok Virsa, Islamabad where diverse audiences participated including youth and music lovers.

Ambassadors and key stake holders of the industry also participated in the concert.

On May 29th, 2022, Similar showcase was hosted by Institute for Art and Culture in Lahore who are in partnership with FACE on this project. A large crowd of audience from various age groups participated. musicians showcased an eclectic mix of music never heard before by the youth and millennial and made the crowd dance to their tunes.

On May 30th, 2022, A conference was held at IAC involving a large number of students of the institute and all the musicians. The artist shared their business secrets, payment methods, record labels, signing contracts with famous artists for collabs, the need for music academics and faculties in the institutes and the struggle of local artists and ended with IAC students live performance.

The selection of musicians was based on regional diversity, ethnic diversity, gender balance including marginalized communities. Some of the musicians play rarest instruments including Suroz, Xighini, Balochi Banjo, murli and Dadang, the sounds of which have long been forgotten.

Also women have been given an exclusive representation in this residency as one of the objectives focuses on the empowerment of women in Music Business as well. Also another objective was to promote and empower the refugee community of musicians especially from Afghanistan who have suffered at the hands of sociopolitical situation in their country.

The 14 indigenous musicians from Pakistan who are part of the program are Sunaila Bibi, Asiya Bano, Islamud Din from Gilgit Baltistan, Sundar Mai, Zainab, Zareen Laal, Wahid Bakhsh, Sajid Ali, from Rahim Yar Khan, Faizan Kazi from Chitral, Jairam Jogi, Amar Bai from Sindh Laal, Ali Adil, Khawand Bakhsh from Quetta, Shams Raheel and Rahat Gul from Afghanistan.

The 10 musicians from European states are Amelia Siba from Czech Republic, Esad Halilovic from Austria, Santoo Meets Alright Mela from France, Ifi Ude from Poland, Fabrizio Festa and Rosalia from Italy, Zhivko Vasilev from Bulgaria, Ipek Ipekcioglu from Germany, and Grigore Lese and Zamfira from Romania.