LAHORE: Among all the festivity, workshops and music performances during the Lahore Music Meet 2018 (LLM18), the art gallery set up by the Citizens Archive of Pakistan (CAP) became a refreshing escape. Across the food stalls, just by the side of the main concert setting at Alhamra, an art gallery that included archival photos and videos and a stall that offered the opportunity to buy rare photos, shirts, CDs and more.
The General Manager of CAP, Hiba Ali roamed around the gallery answering questions and providing help to the participants sitting in the middle of the hall. “This is Mausiqi Mulaqat,” she tells me while finding extra headphones for those who are listening to the archival videos.
Mausiqi Mulaqat was an activity conducted by the CAP to create an inter-generation meddling. A group of elderly people brought their playlists with themselves to share with the younger lot who had brought their own. The sharing took place for at least an hour before the elderly talked about their memories of Pakistan and music.
“We started it in 2007 and now we are closer to forming Pakistan’s first national history museum in Lahore,” she said. The museum according to Hiba will allow researchers access to all the archival material CAP has collected thus far. “We will set up a research corridor so that the process doesn’t stop here and intellectuals analyze the data and publish their findings,” she said.
The pictures across the art gallery showcased rare photos of Pakistan’s legendary musicians such Ustad Fateh Ali, Madam Noor Jehan, Ustad Salamat Ali Khan, Aziz Mian Qawal and pop bands of Karachi who became extinct after the ‘60s and mid ‘70s. The archival footage showcased the story of those who had been witness to partition and the early years of the country.
Hiba believes that the process of archiving the history of Pakistan is a continuous process and while they have already collaborated with India through their Exchange for Change project, they would want to indulge in more of these activities in the future.
