LAHORE - Khalid Malik, Iftikhar Alam - The second two-day Khayaal Festival has begun at the Alhamra Arts Council attracting of intelligentsia of the city besides students from various educational institutions. The theme for the event this year is “Pushing the Boundaries”.
The Khayaal Creative Network, established since 2012, is holding the event. The Khayaal Festival is the brainchild of four versatile educationalists: Ayesha Husain, Zainab Qureshi, Amna Omar and Nuria Rafique-Iqbal. It is an endeavour to promote art, literature, discussion and debate in Pakistan by organizing a series of open and public events.
The primary aim of this festival is to push the boundaries for thought and discussion and indeed to construct more space for both; to create positive dialogue as a step in the direction to eliminate the negativity, intolerance and prejudice that encompasses Pakistani society today with a goal to stimulate Pakistan’s youth by giving them the opportunity for exposure to a diversity of thought through the fields of art, literature, music, philosophy, current affairs, poetry, film and dance.
The event featured a series of talks, performances and documentaries ranging from politics, culture, economy, art, dance, music, literature, empowerment, identity and sociopolitical issues. The festival will explore a diversity of topics including but not limited to, talks on Punjabi poetry, women writers and writing, Pakistani literature over the years, art and the concept of boundaries, Afghanistan and the challenges of Central Asia, revisiting the new world order, the topics of exile and asylum in today’s world, the post revival of Pakistani cinema, art in public spaces and Lahore’s drastically evolving socio-cultural landscape.
This year’s participant lineup is diverse and includes foreign speakers, drawing on literature, poetry, film, drama, language, documentary, art, music and current affairs. These included Aamer Hussein (UK), Abdullah Qureshi, Abdur Rauf, Adnan Sarwar, Afiya Sheherbano, Ahmed Ali Butt, Ajmal Kamal, Ali Akbar Natiq, Dr. Ali Cheema, Ali Habib, Ali Hashmi, Allahditta Yunawala, Dr. Andrew Small (UK), Anum Husain, Dr. Asad Hassan, Dr Asad Sayeed, Asif Farrukhi, Anum Zakaria, Atta Ul Haq Qasmi, Atif Khan, Ayesha Amir Ahmed, Ayesha Jatoi, Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa, Aysha Raja, Aziz Sohail, Bidishah, Bishakha Datta, Bilal Hasan Minto, Bushra Gohar, Ehtisham Zahid, Erfan Khoosat, Ejaz Haider, Fahd Hussain, Fahd Mallhi, Dr. Faisal Bari, Farida Batool, Farjad Nabi, Dr. Farrukh Khan, Dr. Fatima Hassan, Harris Gazdar, Haroon Khalid, Hussain Naqvi, Imrana Tiwana, I. A. Rehman, Iqbal Qaiser, Jamal Rehman, Jami, Jawad Sharif, Jibran Nasir, Kamil Mumtaz, Kashif Baloch, Krishen Beel, Lubna Dajani, Madhya Leghari, Mariam Hussain, Marvi Memon, Marvi Sirmid, Maryam Wasif, Meeran Karim, Mehreen Murtaza, Mina Keshavarz (IRAN), Mina Malik Hussain, Mira Hashmi, Mobeen Ansari, Major (r) Muhammad Nasir, Mujib Shami, Munib Iqbal, Musharraf Ali Farooqi, Mushtaq Sufi, Mussarat Masshadi, Nadia Afgan, Nandita Das, Brig (r) Naeem Ahmad, Naeem Tahir, Naazish Ataullah, Nour Aslam, Justice (r) Nasira Iqbal, Nayyar Ali Dada, Noor ul Huda Shah, Dr. Osama Siddique, Qasim Jafri, Quddus Mirza, Qudsia Rahim, Rakea Jamil, Raniya Hosain, Rashid Rana, Reza Mohammadi (Afghanistan), Riaz Kokhar, Risham Hosain Syed, Saba Eitazaz, Saba Farid, Saba Khan, Sabir Nazar, Sajid Durrani, Sara Kazmi, Samina Baig, Sarmad Khoosat, Shaanzae Shahid, Shahid Malik, Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh (FRANCE), Shakila Haider, Shehla Sanwal, Shekhar Gupta, Sonu Rehman, Surraiya Multanikar, Tahira Syed, Taimur Rehman, Vasay Chaudhry, Vladimir Boyko (RUS), Walid Iqbal, Zar Aslam, Zeba Sattar, Zulfiqar Ali. Documentaries will also be an integral part of the Festival, featuring the works of renowned documentary filmmakers including Samar Minallah, Mina Keshavarz (Iran), Lubna Dajani (Jordan) and Nisar Malik.
The festival gave the look of a carnival where people enjoyed sitting traditional charpoys and chatting in the sunshine of early winter. There was a food court where you could have Chinese, Japanese, fast food as well as continental dishes. There were a number of stalls selling handicrafts, souvenirs and decorative artworks. The first day of the festival ended with performance of musical band Khumariyaan.