The slogan of the festival was ‘Harnessing Culture for Peace & Harmony’ and the organisers succeeded in bringing the message of peace to [...]]]> The five-day Wakhi Cultural Festival, organised by Lok Virsa in collaboration with Gojal Educational & Cultural Association (GECA), has concluded with a prestigious ceremony marked by traditional cultural ensembles of music and dance.

The slogan of the festival was ‘Harnessing Culture for Peace & Harmony’ and the organisers succeeded in bringing the message of peace to the entire Pakistani nation through the vibrant depiction of the Wakhi heritage with performances and demonstration of skills by the Wakhi artisans and artists, who came from the far-flung valley of upper Hunza and Gojal.

Murtaza Solangi, Director General, Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) was the chief guest at the concluding ceremony, who eulogised the efforts of the organisers Lok Virsa and GECA for their combined efforts for promotion of Wakhi culture and language.

Lok Virsa Executive Director Khalid Javaid appreciated the efforts of the participating master artisans, folk artists and musicians from Wakhi community on the successful completion of the festival. He said that the festival afforded an excellent opportunity to the residents of the twin cities of Rawalpindi-Islamabad to witness at the capital city the first time in the history of Pakistan live presentations and display of the rich of cultural traditions, lifestyles, musical heritage, traditional cuisine and the rituals connected to various festivities and celebrations of the Wakhi community living in Gilgit-Baltistan region.

On behalf of Lok Virsa, he assured the participants that Lok Virsa will continue to patronise and support all regional and local cultural institutions in Pakistan for documentation and preservation of their indigenous folk culture and traditions. He also acknowledged the generous contribution made by the partners, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs represented by Royal Norwegian Embassy for holding this unique cultural activity of its kind at Islamabad.

Also appreciating the role of Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation, Khalid Javaid said that it is a source of great satisfaction for the cultural organisations like Lok Virsa that state media institutions like PBS are keen to help out in projecting cultural heritage of Pakistan. He said that Lok Virsa recognises the contribution of PBC in documenting and promoting folk musical heritage of Pakistan through its provincial and regional radio stations. He expressed hope that Both Lok Virsa and PBC can join hand together to make some more concerted efforts in this direction, he added.

GECA Chairman Farman Ali Baig thanked Lok Virsa and the Norwegian partners in giving an opportunity to the Wakhi people to showcase their rich culture, traditions, folklore and musical heritage in the capital city through Wakhi Cultural Festival.

The ceremony concluded with life cultural performances by a select number of Wakhi folk singers and musicians as well as poetry recitation by the Wakhi poets and writers. Certificates and shields were presented to the participants at the end of the ceremony. Over 60 participants including master artisans, folk artists and musicians attended the festival.

The 5-day Wakhi festival remained a centre of attraction for the visitors from the twin city metropolis. Visitors enjoyed the elderly people and notables of Gojal tribe dancing to the tunes of traditional music wearing their cultural white cap and long woollen coat embroidered with flowers called ‘Chugha.’ The white cap and ‘Chugha’ clad elders remained the centre of attention.

Apart from poetry recitation session, melodious songs, skits and drama staged by local Wakhi artists were also presented during the festival and a drama depicting the various phases of historical development of Wakhi people received warm appreciation. Stalls showcasing the traditional dress, cuisines and artwork of Wakhi Pamiri people remained the centre of attention of visitors. Local cuisines such as Bat, Molida, Gral, Shulbut and Moch offered a unique traditional taste to the visitors. The warmth of the food stalls and the colourful cultural presentations of the festival provided a good warm environment in the chilly weather of the twin cities.

Source: Thenews

Elders and youth from Gojal danced ecstatically on the beautiful tunes of rubab [...]]]> ISLAMABAD: Wakhi culture seems to have won many admirers in Islamabad as could be seen from audience response on Thursday when folk artists on the second day of the Wakhi Cultural Festival at Lok Virsa presented some popular songs, folk music and dances.

Elders and youth from Gojal danced ecstatically on the beautiful tunes of rubab (a lute-like plucked musical instrument) played by Fazlur Rehman Sheerin Sodo, Haider Murad, Ali Ahmed Shani and Mohammed Ali Sani, daf (a large-sized frame drum), surnai (wind instrument) and dadang (a large drum). The main attractions of the day were the famous classical Persian song and dance ‘Sawdogar’ (Trader’s eulogy) presented by Shambi Khan, Mehman Khan and their team and loos (poetic funeral oration) by folk singer Sultana Mehman from Shimshal.

The colourful display of indigenous crafts, handicraft and local cuisines, especially molida and moch (chicken barley soup) attracted a large number of people.

Besides folk artists clad in traditional white chogas (long woollen overcoat), an array of folk arts and crafts from Gojal represented by master artisans are also present in the festival showing their mastery in various crafts like plos (floor rug weaving made from Yak hair), pattu weaving (lamb wool rug), embroidery, wooden spoon making by master artisan Shafqat and gemstones, etc.

Aziza Begum, the master artisan of traditional floor rug called plos, was also one of the attractions. Plos is usually woven by both male and female members of the family and are made throughout Gojal valley like Shimshal, Chupursan, and Ishkoman, Boroghil, Nagar, etc. It is traditionally made in natural colours of fibres used (black and white) from hair of the tail of yak and sheep wool.

The exquisite embroidery of Hunza Gojal which is mostly done in cross-stitch is famous all over the world. Haji Bibi, Sultana and Aziza are the master artisans of Wakhi style of embroidery. They make beautiful caps, handkerchief, crochet work, etc. Haji Bibi informed that their embroidery is so intricate that it takes almost a month to finish a traditional Wakhi cap. There were times when the raw material including silk was easily available near the Pakistan-China border, but due to political reasons, they have to go to Punjab to buy silk, she said.

Another stall which catches your eye is fabric weaving by Sehat Niso. She said that this craft is not a traditional craft of Gojal region. She actually got training from foreign experts some years back and now she is practising this art at her home. She makes traditional floral and geometrical patterns on her fabric.

Haqiqat Ali was busy in carving a thick branch of apple tree which later, would turn out to be a beautiful spoon. He said that traditional wooden spoons are an integral part of kitchen cutlery and are very famous throughout Gilgit-Baltistan. They are mostly used for eating soup prepared on different occasions. The large spoon is called kupchlaiz while the smaller one is called kupch which are made from apple wood. Dawn