Rights of musicians and composers to the freedom of expression are violated worldwide, but the strong support for Music Freedom Day demonstrates the will to continue advocacy and defence for the universal rights to compose, perform and take part in musical expressions. Lok Virsa (National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage) joined hands with the Institute for Preservation of Art and Culture and Folklore Society of Pakistan to celebrate the World Music Freedom Day.
A special concert was arranged in this regard at Lok Virsa Auditorium, featuring artistes, Taimur Khan (Sarangi), Sarfarz Anwar (Tabla), Farhan Bogra (Rubab), Shiraz (Tumaknari), Taj Buledi (Baluchi folk singer), Ashgar Ali (Suroz) from Islamabad, Peshawar and Quetta and visiting musicians Gerald Sholomenko (saxophone & flute), James Steven (guitar & violin) from Canada and Chinese folk singer Zhang Mi.
A number of music fans of the twin cities and foreigners residing in Islamabad attended the concert and applauded the versatility of the performers. Earlier, welcoming writers and women’s rights activists, Dr Fouzia Saeed apprised the guests of the history and philosophy of Music Freedom Day, especially in the prevailing circumstances of the country, and congratulated Lok Virsa to become one of the pioneers to celebrate this day in Pakistan.
Talking to reporters, Lok Virsa Executive Director Khalid Javaid said, “My institution always welcomes every effort and initiative from individuals or organizations, which can benefit the traditional practitioners in Pakistan, including folk artistes and musicians. The present event is also a step forward in this direction.”
“Lok Virsa, on its part, has been regularly holding cultural and music festivals, exhibitions, workshops and seminars to give recognition to folk artists and musicians. In this respect, we are going to hold our annual folk festival, known as Lok Mela, from 6-15 April, which will be participated by all provinces and regions, and will feature artisans-at-work, craft bazaar, song and dance ensembles, cultural evenings and traditional cuisines.”
The Lok Virsa executive director especially mentioned the enabling role of his ministry, i.e. National Heritage, and the Norwegian embassy for their generous support to further the objectives of Lok Virsa as a leading cultural organisation in Pakistan with a mandate for collection, documentation, preservation and dissemination of Pakistan’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage.
