islamabad-The Pakistan National Council of the Arts is working to promote arts and culture of the country with an aim to build a robust arts ecosystem supporting the artists.
Talking to APP Director General PNCA, SyEd Jamal Shah said a holistic and integrated cluster development approach was initiated to develop the arts and culture.
He said that dedicated teams were established to champion the performing, visual and literary art forms, adding that these teams worked on the entire value chain from seeding art start-ups, grooming talent, developing art groups and art businesses, to internationalization.
“This total approach allows each art form to blossom independently with its own focus on specific areas of opportunity, and to cultivate new areas for long-terms growth and sustainability,” he said. Syed Jamal Shah said that the Council was structured into two major divisions: Visual Arts Division and Performing Arts Division.
He said that it focused on four key strategic thrusts: Nurturing and developing the arts; Stimulating broader and sophisticated demand by audience; Developing capacity and resources; and Facilitating internationalization and enhancing global connectivity.
“In developing artistic talent, the Council provides support through training, arts housing, commissioning of work and overseas touring”, he said.
Director General PNCA said that major festivals and art shows are organized to showcase the best of local and international artists. To build new audience and broaden arts participation, the Council engages the wider community in the arts through outreach programmes targeted at different sectors of the population, he said.
Lok Virsa ‘Craft of the Month’ program popular among public
ISLAMABAD, Apr 9 (APP): The program “Craft of the Month” started by National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage (Lok Virsa) three years ago is now very popular among the public.
An official of Lok Virsa told APP on Monday that Lok Virsa tried its level best to provide a platform for traditional handicrafts to keep them alive, adding that the aim of this program was to encourage those people who left this work due to any reason. Lok Virsa started this program on December 2015, up till now 20 sessions have been organized. A great public response and appreciation and involvement were received regarding the sessions. “We are trying to highlight the real value of these crafts,” said the official. “Lok virsa not only took this step of promoting handicrafts but we also formulated a market for them at a national level.”
People from twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad purchase these handicrafts from Lok virsa and show their eagerness to meet and promote the craftsmen. He said that these handicrafts were vanishing day by day due to unavailability and expensive material. “The few crafts which are alive are only because of the love of craftsmen and the fact is that it is the only earning source for many people,” he remarked.