{"id":23979,"date":"2023-11-04T14:27:12","date_gmt":"2023-11-04T14:27:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/?p=23979"},"modified":"2023-11-04T14:37:31","modified_gmt":"2023-11-04T14:37:31","slug":"pakistans-national-folk-festival-begins-with-dedication-to-palestinian-victims-of-israeli-aggression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/pakistans-national-folk-festival-begins-with-dedication-to-palestinian-victims-of-israeli-aggression\/","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan’s National Folk Festival Begins with Dedication to Palestinian Victims of Israeli Aggression"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"Tazeen Akhtar<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n
The national folk festival of Pakistan kick started on 03 Nov in the federal capital city Islamabad with participation of Palestinian culture for the first time in the history of Lok Virsa the department under the Ministry of culture and heritage. Lok Virsa is holding a 10-day Folk Festival \u201cLok Mela\u201d from 3 to 12 November 2023 at Islamabad under the aegis of National Heritage and Culture Division. The inaugural event was attended by Mr. and Mrs. Ambassador Ahmad Jawad Rabei and the staff of the Embassy of Palestine.<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n
Palestinian children presented their traditional “Dabke” dance that received huge applause from the audience. DHM Nader El-turk and his family also contributed to the inaugural session. His kids staged a show about Palestinian cause and the struggle for their state.\"\"<\/h5>\n
A\u00a0 special stall has been set up in the festival showcasing Palestinian photographs that depict the living and the struggle of local people. A donation box is also there to raise funds for the victims of Israeli strikes. Minister Jamal Shah requested that everyone should support Palestine by way of donations.<\/h5>\n
Federal Minister for National Heritage & Culture Syed Jamal Shah had already announced to dedicate the festival to the oppressed people of Palestine especially Gaza two days ago . Mr. Nader El-turk joined him in the press conference in this regard.\"\"<\/h5>\n
Mr. Jamal Shah, addressing the inaugural ceremony shared ,”This year we are sharing this platform with our Palestinian brothers and sisters because they are witnessing the worst possible times in their lives.”<\/strong><\/h5>\n
He said that our Palestinian brothers sisters are under siege, they are being killed day and night. It is very important for us to talk about the Palestinians, their struggle, their hardships, the nightmares, their hopes, their aspirations, and Insha\u2019Allah their achievements, and gains tomorrow.\u201d<\/h5>\n
Culture Minister of KPK , Feroze Jamal Shah Kakakhel was also present in the inauguration. He said that I am conveying the message from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that we are with you till last drop of our blood.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
He also touched the cultural side of Palestine in connection with the cultural event of folk festival. He said that the Palestinian cause, the Palestinian people, their culture, their heritage is the oldest in the world. It is where humanity meets, it is where the civilization meets. Soon the Palestinians would hold a festival like this \u201cin the heart of Jerusalem, in the heart of Gaza.\"\"<\/h5>\n
Executive Director Lok Virsa Mr. Uzair Khan , in his welcome speech\u00a0 apprised the audience about the salient features of Lok Mela. He said that the festival not only showcases living cultural heritage of Pakistan but it also aims to revive endangered folk traditions like arts and crafts and musical forms.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
The Mela helps to keep all the units of the federation actually connected with each other. This Mela also provides an opportunity for skilled master craftsmen and women from across the country to showcase their art at national level and to sell their products directly to public without intervention of commission agent.\"\"<\/h5>\n
Federal Secretary for National Heritage & Culture Division Ms. Humaira Ahmed said\u00a0 \u201cI am delighted to see that there are such institutes like Lok Virsa which are carrying out its duty professionally and introducing Pakistan bright images to the world.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
As per tradition of Lok Mela, a Dastarbandi\/Chaddarposhi ceremony is held each year in which established crafts person and eminent folk artist\/musician is honoured. It is a symbol of Lok Virsa\u2019s commitment to keep the heritage of Pakistan alive and continuing and a way of showing that the folk practitioners have importance in national life and they have made a great contribution towards our culture.<\/h5>\n
This year Ms. Siyani Khatoon, a master artisan of Khes\/Lungi weaving from Sindh and Fazal Jutt, folk artist from Punjab was honoured. The chief guest placed a shawl on the shoulder of Siyani Khatoon and put a turban on the head of Fazal Jutt.<\/h5>\n
During the ceremony, folk singers from all provinces and regions of Pakistan gave electrifying performances. A special performance from Ms. Saira Peter, opera singer was also a part of the event who specially came from UK for Lok Mela.\"\"<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n
Apart from many entertainment programs for the visitors, the exhibition of the work of the artisans is a special attraction for the visitors at the ongoing \u201cLok Mela\u201d organized by Lok Virsa.<\/h5>\n
More than 400 artisans are seen showcasing their work of making aesthetically made handicrafts, using their creativity in folk arts and crafts and mesmerizing the visitors with their unique craftsmanship.<\/h5>\n
Handicrafts on display include embroidery (including Multani, Bahawalpuri, Hazara, Swati, Balochi and Sindhi embroidery), block printing, wood lacquer work, khusa making, pottery, chunri work, doll making, khaddar weaving, truck art, wood carving, namda and gaba, metal work, shawl weaving, zari work, bead work, ajrak, stone carving etc.\"\"<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tazeen Akhtar The national folk festival of Pakistan kick started on 03 Nov in the federal capital city Islamabad with participation of Palestinian culture for the first time in the history of Lok Virsa the department under the Ministry of culture and heritage. Lok Virsa is holding a 10-day Folk Festival \u201cLok Mela\u201d from 3 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,91,46],"tags":[207,1205,3061,1258,285,4159,4173,48,154,4160],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23979"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23979"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23993,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23979\/revisions\/23993"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}