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reform
theatre At the 9th festival of IRC, theatre groups from different parts of the country, in particular the remote areas, performed in Lahore By Sarwat Ali Interactive Resource Centre (IRC) held its 9th Festival at the Human Rights Commission Auditorium in Lahore last week. Like previous festivals, the plays generated plenty of heated discussion and were followed by the moulding of action onstage according to the understanding of the individual spectator. This made the audience fully involved in the show, for being counted as actors and not merely spectators and hence made to think and restructure the performance when asked. Metaphoric connections
reform Contrary to what the state
- and the Kafkaesque establishment that silently runs it, sometimes from the
shadows - has drummed This is starkly reflected and reiterated in the historic 'bill of hope' that forms the 18th Constitutional Amendment and seeks to enact sweeping changes to Pakistan's constitution. The elected civilian parliament, representing not the military but the real Pakistanis, has for the third time in nearly four decades stood its ground to cast in stone the collective desire to be ruled by themselves and be beholden to no self-appointed overlords. Collective aspirations The 1973 constitution set out clearly the collective aspirations of the people - equal fundamental rights for all, elected democracy on the basis of universal adult franchise (not Ayub's bogus, shameless selected voting rights), supreme parliament, high-autonomy provinces and intolerance of the abrogation of the people's constitution punishable by death (Article 6 dealing with treason). And yet within four years, the people and their constitution were violated - the constitution abrogated, fundamental rights suspended, the people's first prime minister hung, parliamentary democracy truncated into a military-headed, unaccountable presidential rule and party politics -- the lifeblood of democracies - de-institutionalised (the 1985 elections conducted by General Zia were partyless). It then took 20 years for hard, patient struggle for the Pakistani people to restore sovereignty to parliament and reiterate in writing their desire for self-rule and collective national prioritisation - through the 13th Amendment tabled by the Sharif government in 1998. This time the military didn't even wait for four years. Within a year, another army chief - General Musharraf this time - suspended the constitution, first nearly hung and then exiled the elected prime minister, abrogated parliamentary sovereignty and restored military primacy. Glorious square one It has now taken over a decade to come back to square one in Pakistani politics. The historic 18th Amendment seeks to restore again not just parliamentary sovereignty but goes a step beyond what the Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif did when they piloted constitutional amendments for this purpose and tried but failed to turn their backs to the military. Treating treason Under the 18th Amendment, the Council of Common Interest has been arrogated a higher profile, role and authority to resolve federation-provinces and inter-province issues that will offer a proper platform to iron out wrinkles that military rule and weak elected governments have failed to take care of. With the prime minister and chief ministers as members of CCI, this improves political will and management capacities to boost autonomy for the provinces. With more stakeholders now, the military will become less capable of sustaining conflicts and disputes that they can profit out of. This time, through the 18th Amendment, the people of Pakistan want not just stated accountability (as in 1973 and 1998) but practical accountability of any future military adventurer out to conquer his own country - this time the people want Article 6 and charges of treason applied to and punishment for not just coup leaders but also coup abettors, particularly the judiciary, which has for the first 60 of Pakistan's 63 years always solemnised and legalised violation of fundamental rights of the people and failed to protect the constitution it has always sworn to protect. Constitution of a judicial commission and parliamentary input from the spectrum of representation therein will minimise the chances of malleable judges making it to the bench. This greater degree of transparency and institutional approach in appointments will lessen the element of controversy in judgments and promote wider acceptability. Pakistan does not need judges who legalise military takeovers and hangings and exiles of elected prime ministers. Purging distortions The acumen and tenacity of the Pakistani people and the political parties they continue voting for, despite the odds stacked up against them, are remarkable. The people have matched narrow military mindedness with persistence of vision for a free, fair and pluralistic polity that harmonizes their collective desires. The 18th Amendment is translation of this persistence - purgation of military written distortions in the constitution. No more dissolution of the national and provincial assemblies because they don't act according to invisible scripts handed to governments in the shadowy periods between elections and formations of governments. And no more imported or dummy prime ministers who are not people's representatives for national leadership or who have "Prime Minister House" as their residential addresses on their national identity cards. The 18th Amendment seeks to also make it abundantly clear (Article 243), in case some uniformed citizens still don't know it yet, that "federal government shall have control and command of armed forces", not the other way round. The 18th Amendment makes it clear there will be no more presidential rule and indirect power accumulation to control political centers of power -- the authority to select armed forces chiefs and provincial governors becomes the prime minister's prerogative now. This is aimed at rightly carving out the parliament's say in who is suitable for national duty. Additionally, selections of persons key to ensuring a fair and representative political system - such as the chief election commissioner - is now no longer to be dictated by a head of state who is either also the army chief or is 'his man at Aiwan-e-Sadr'. It is sensible for the CEC to be a person appointed in consultation with the leader of the house and the leader of the opposition. This will be a major boost to the fairness and legitimacy of future elections, which have always been contentious in Pakistan even during civilian rule. Greater ownership of the political process will engender national and institutional maturity. The next compact There's nothing in the 18th Amendment that is not an improvement on the original 1973 constitution. However, the changes - even though they number about 100 - don't go far enough. Considering the political factionalism and growing demand that fundamental rights be ensured for all citizens, it is clear that the parliament has gone for the basic minimum changes to the constitution. While this is understandable and has been achieved, the new Pakistan which is set to grow from 185 million to 300 million by 2030; where today the average Pakistani is a 23-year-old, does not even have a high school certificate, is looking for a job and to start a family; where energy, water and food shortages are becoming difficult to handle; where poverty, unemployment and sickness have assumed critical mass, the constitutional reforms of the 18th Amendment alone will not help Pakistan survive politically. What is needed is another political compact (building on the 18th Amendment) on good governance (more transparency and accountability); greater and more equitable generation and allocation of resources (a vastly improved taxation system that does not just tax the poor and barely rich) and dramatically enhanced capacities of managing them (better civil service, more youthful, more business-like); more provinces (PML-Q demanded making the process easier to create new ones but was turned down); leaner and smarter governments (the new reforms put a cap on cabinet size but do not offer a mechanism that can bring right/qualified stewards to ministries rather than cronies); greater political ownership and responsibility (the governors and armed forces chiefs should also be appointed through parliamentary commissions rather than just the prime minister's whims); building a knowledge economy (100m Pakistanis are under 25 years of age -- if they can't benefit from the information technology age then Pakistan is already doomed no matter what we do), building and strengthening university-industry interface (skill driven job demands and creation), and facilitating and supporting a massive push for entrepreneurship (for jobs, skills and wealth creation); and a big, big push for volunteerism (we must stop relying on the government to do everything).
theatre NAPA Repertory
Theatre's latest presentation, Beech Bahar Ki Raat Ka Sapna, is a translation
of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's However, the fact remains, that the quality of their performances has been somewhat inconsistent. The group's last attempt at Shakespeare, Sufaid Khoon, was actually Agha Hashar's version of King Lear, an anachronism which they didn't quite pull off. Fortunately, the group's latest foray into Elizabethan drama fares much better. Translated and directed by veteran actor/director Khalid Ahmad, in what he describes as a free translation, the play stays true to Shakespeare's plot, dialogue and arrangement, only taking necessary liberties with costumes and settings. Translating a Shakespearean play into Urdu requires transporting it into a setting that makes it believable for the characters to be speaking the language -- A Midsummer Night's Dream is set in an indeterminate country, a mythical kingdom out of some fairytale where the ruler is preparing to marry his beloved. In Beech Bahar Ki Raat Ka Sapna, a pair of star-crossed lovers, Hermia and Sikander, is presented before him. To complicate matters further, Hermia is also loved by another suitor Taimur who, in turn, is desired by Alina. While all these passions
are simmering in the human world, a parallel drama is unfolding in the
invisible world of fairies who inhabit the nearby forest. A tussle is raging
between Gulfam, the fairy King and his queen Gulnar over a little boy who the
queen is unwilling to part with and who the king wants for his page. To
further add to the melee, a group of amateur actors who are preparing a play
for the King's forthcoming nuptials, has also decided to rehearse in the
forest where no one will be privy to their efforts. As the two pairs of
distraught lovers find themselves lost in the forest, the human world and the
fairy world overlap with each other. The ridiculous blends with the sublime
to create a magical and fantastical tale that continues to captivate
audiences right to this day. The NAPA team worked successfully to make the play credible and relevant for a local audience. The theme of love triumphing against all odds is, of course, a universal one, as is the idea of unrequited love and false pride. And while the human realm of the ruler Tabrez might seem a bit stilted at times, it is the fairy realm that made us eager to suspend disbelief and embrace its whimsical enchantment. The sets were simple yet effective. A few key backdrops were used to create a palatial residence, a theatre and the dark, deep forest where all the drama unfolds. Clad in filmy, shimmery whites or rich, jewel hues, the fairy folk were imaginatively costumed, adding to the overall impact. The bold body painting adorning the male fairies was especially effective. Khalid Ahmad's dialogue was imaginative and witty, flowing naturally from the lips of his characters, formal and flowery, irreverent and hilarious or impassioned and eloquent as the scene required. The NAPA training is now beginning to show as all the members of the team turned in a good performance. Aimen Tariq was regal yet vulnerable as the fairy queen Gulnar while Mustafa Afridi presented an imposing, slightly menacing Gulfam, king of the fairies. But it was Mohsin Ali Shah as Puck who stole the show with his sprightly moves and deft physical gestures. The quick rolls and nimble leaps conveyed the impishness and love of tomfoolery that defines this special servant of the king. Tanveer Abbas, playing the buffoonish actor Painda (Nick Bottom in the original) was also an inspired bit of casting as the actor seemed to have effortlessly slipped into the part which was tailor-made for him. It is the bumbling Painda onto whom Puck affixes an ass's head and then causes Gulnar to fall madly in love with this hideous caricature. For once, the slapstick element of the play which was as always lapped up by the audience, was not forced, since this is after all a farce. The physical comedy was spontaneous and well executed and the actors seemed to enjoy camaraderie if not chemistry. They effectively bounced their lines off each other, managing to cover up little slips with extempore quips. Another impressive feature of the production should have been the music and live singing that the actors break into. Since songs and music are an integral part of Shakespearean comedies, this element was important. However, the taped music, which accompanied the singing, made it less effective, especially since the sound quality of the recording was not too impressive. Considering the musical heavyweights that NAPA was fortunate to include, the compositions were hardly, memorable. In fact, some of the background music was reminiscent of 1980s PTV plays. A few minor caveats aside, this is one NAPA production that the audiences should be flocking to see. The magical sprites of the forest are reason enough for that.
The last performance of the play is today at the Arts Council Theatre in Karachi. Spectators as actors At the 9th festival of IRC, theatre groups from different parts of the country, in particular the remote areas, performed in Lahore By Sarwat Ali Interactive Resource Centre (IRC) held its 9th Festival
at the Human Rights Commission Auditorium in Lahore last week. Like previous The main inspiration of this method has come from the theories and concept of the Theatre of the Oppressed by Augusto Boal. He worked around Forum Theatre, Invisible Theatre and the Theatre of the Oppressed, and evolved his form in the workshops (Forum Theatre) and then took it to the street (Invisible Theatre) removing the distinction between the actor and the spectator. For him it was more important to achieve a good debate than a good solution. Being engaged in performances could bring forward questions, experiences and issues that were difficult to express initially in words but could reveal elements for the group to work on. The groups that took part in the three-day festival were Multan Theatre Group, Chanan Theatre Group, F.C College, Fatimah Jinnah College, Lahore, Kook Theatre Group, Haripur and Mandwa Group. The themes around which the plays were built are the common problems and issues in our society -- sexual harassment, girl's education, community mobilisation, bonded labour, environment and the growing extremism within our society. In such a theatre the paraphernalia of the stage performance is usually dispensed with. This festival was staged at an auditorium in the city but the groups usually are required to perform in odd places and at a short notice which requires minimal sets, props and greater ability to enact a performance. Even on this stage the same bare essentials were the only aid to the actors -- the rest was mimed. The important aspect of the festival was that the players were not specialised theatre personnel but ordinary people, either students or from various marginalised communities of the country. This must have been their first exposure to theatre and provided them a creative outlet for the expression of difficulties of their social existence. The possibility of tapping genuine talent is always there as well as providing a platform for an organised activity. This may offer some alleviation from frustration caused by the lack of justice in life; otherwise it can result in a whole range of outlets from cribbing to desperate acts of violence. There is no pretence in this theatre about high art. It is essentially a tool of seeking a practical solution to the problems that face society and the method chosen is that of presenting a problem and then seeking the spectators' help to solve it. For the purposes of enactment, this interactive method is quite useful. It keeps the audiences involved and on their toes and also gives them clarity about what is happening on stage. Actually what happens on stage itself provides and provokes the audience into asking questions about the injustice or discrimination. This then forms the raw material for actors to develop the play in such a way that it provokes more questions, and this process of provoking the audiences and then building upon it is where the real creativity rests in this type of theatre. It is quite commendable that, as in the past, theatre groups from different parts of the country, in particular the remoter areas performed in Lahore, which itself is a rare feat and those working in the theatre were not only raw hands that one had got accustomed to seeing in the last decade and a half. Under the aegis of IRC in the past many theatre groups in the country have done thousands of performances mostly in the rural areas. Since its inception and then gradual growth the area and scope of its activities have been on the increase and in recognition for its work IRC had been nominated as one of finalists of the World Cultural Open Award, New York. National Endowment for Democracy and Fund for Global Human Rights had joined hands with it for pilot participatory video making in Pakistan for IRC also trains members of the community from all over Pakistan in a number of mediums including interactive theatre, community videos, radio dramas, documentaries, video animations and puppet theatre.
Metaphoric connections Residency shows organised at the same time in two different cities, present contrasting approaches towards the status and function of art By Quddus Mirza "Words are like the wind, here today, gone tomorrow. No one owns words". J. M. Coetzee Metaphors are an attempt to tame the fleeting nature of
word. Like metaphors, artists' residencies are a means of creating Different artists perform this role in different ways. Some assume the role of political propagandists and project social problems and suggest solutions. Others construct art as a commodity to be consumed by a select section of society (that collects these art pieces for the sake of investment). Therefore, in contrast with words, art works are not freely available like wind; these are owned by people who can afford them! Besides this broad – and may be superficial -- demarcation of politically-motivated art and market-oriented art, there exists another approach which is that of public art. In public art, an art piece is not conceived or created as a saleable or collectable product, but is meant to reach a large public that is not able to own an art work or visits art galleries. Actually, public art not only caters to general population; it also facilitates the artist and in more ways than one. It gives artists a chance to move him out of the studio to experience something new and unexpected. Likewise, artists' residencies too provide an occasion for them to step out of their space, interact with others, exhibit at a non-commercial establishment, and thus try to change their habits of art making. Being at a new place with other professionals, a change often occurs in the 'normal' art practice – sometimes immediately, or later (like experiencing love as described by Munir Niazi), in the memory of days spent at the residency. An artist in residency is almost in a similar situation as a married person on a holiday. He or she can afford to have a temporary but intense affair, knowing that the spouse is not going to be around. Thus, it is often observed, artists during residencies take risks, deviate from their professional routine and produce something unusual, unexpected and exciting to the extent of being daring or unsatisfactory. This possibility of fabricating something so remote from
familiar imagery, without a thought about the art market, is the essence of This must be unexpected for a visitor accustomed to seeing works arranged in an exhibition space. But what is important is whether what these artists did, or will be doing, is different from their own and the normal art practice. If a new dimension is discovered during the period they spent together and "did not do much", then perhaps it a time well-spent. Another event, Studio R.M. Residency, took place in Lahore almost coinciding with the Vasl show in Karachi. Here a number of artists, primarily painters such as Mehr Afroz, Sana Arjumand, Adeel uz Zafar, Naseer Bhurgri and Jagath Ravindra (from Sri Lanka), were invited to spend a month together and make art. Here, each of the artists created complete, convincing and interesting art pieces at the end of the residency period. Mehr Afroz made drawings with motifs of roses, pins, and gowns – all referring to the pain, absence and martyrdom. Zafar showed his large scale scratched works of draped toys, while Bhurgri combined outlines of male figures in such a manner that these conveyed a political connotation. Arjumand worked on her theme of a girl playing with symbols of national identity, in her series of three paintings, video installation and large scale toy aeroplane painted in the fashion of truck art. Ravindra produced alluringly colourful and textural canvases of abstract imagery. Both residencies, organised at the same time in two different cities, project different views, positions and purposes. Regardless of the fact that Vasl comprised mainly foreign invitees and Studio R.M. was more focused on painters from home, both presented contrasting approaches towards the status and function of art. If one was eager to bring out the unseen, the second was designed to produce the best of its participants (hence Sana Arjumand's work was remarkable in its scale, concerns, quality and ambition). One is unable to pronounce the merit of one or the other, but it would be beneficial for the art world if the two residencies can come closer in the same way that their participants make connections with each other – both metaphorically and in the physical sense. Alice the saviour Dear All, We finally went to see Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland,
and I have to say I was not as impressed as reviews and friends suggested The film is a rather interesting take on the original Alice story in that it features Alice on the brink of marriage and sexualisation. She is shown surrounded by irritating, deceitful and pretentious adults, so her tumbling down the rabbit hole does appear to be a bit of a relief. In Wonderland -- or is that Underland? -- we see many familiar images and characters from the original story, but they exist in a very changed political landscape. Wonderland is ruled by the cruel red queen and the land is stalked by fear and clouded by political repression. The usual irritating characters are present: the opium smoking blue caterpillar, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, the Mad Hatter and so on, but there is an overwhelming sense that this is going to a heroic sort of an epic, Alice is going to save Wonderland from the tyrants! That is what an ancient scroll says: Alice is the saviour foretold by the scroll and awaited by Wonderland... As you can imagine the whole story goes a little like 'Prince-Caspian-meets-Harry-Potter-meets-Joan-of-Arc'. By the end, Alice becomes a St George-like figure slaying an evil dragon; she is Joan of Arc surviving the oppressors, she is Prince Caspian fighting for the forces of good... She probably is, at some subliminal and Freudian level, a woman coming to terms with her own fears... Not only is the film a story of Alice as saviour, it also recasts the Hatter in the unlikely role of a liberation hero, and makes the dormouse into a sort of Tinker Bell figure. Since the Hatter is played by Johnny Depp it becomes an interesting interpretation, but overall it is a bit silly. I was not particularly pleased with the way Alice's clothes seemed to be falling off her in a rather suggestive manner, but possibly this ties in with the coming of age/accepting adulthood theme that the film points to. At the end Alice is finally comfortable in the clothes -- and skin -- she inhabits; she is liberated from her own worst fears and anxieties. What the film does do beautifully well is to visualise this strange world so vividly. The palette of the film is extraordinary -- the blood hues of the red queen's court, the whiteness and purity of her good sister the white queen's milieu, the dense shadows of the foliage, the arid duty images of the chessboard of war. The casting is quite inspiring and the film has many memorable images and lines (I particularly liked the one about Alice being 'much muchier before'; muchness relating to courage and boldness here). But what I found really annoying about the film was having to wear those silly 3D glasses in the cinema! Yes we experienced Avatar and now we have experienced Alice in 3D, but I find the glasses terribly tedious and the experience is not mind blowing. It just reminds me of those 3D story books and postcards that became so fashionable so many decades ago. We did not have to wear the annoying glasses to see Polanski's new film The Ghostwriter, but it too was a slightly unsatisfactory cinematic experience. It is an interesting story (a Robert Harris bestseller) about a writer hired to ghost write an ex British PM's memoirs who gets caught up in a web of international intrigue and the dark secrets of the Iraq war. Unfortunately, it sounds rather more interesting than it is, and it just ends up as a modern day Manchurian Candidate story. What Polanski does really well is depict how very creepy parts of the beautiful US landscape can be. Even when the scene is the woodlands where affluent people have expensive homes, the atmosphere is skin-crawlingly terrifying. The more beautiful the locales, the more the immense sense of dread and a feeling of dearth of humanity. Both films should be seen because they do express a sense of contemporary thinking and create such original visual worlds. Happy viewing! Best Wishes
Umber Khairi
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into the heads of its peoples, Pakistan is a multi-national, multi-ethnic and
multi-linguist state. It is not a culturally homogenous, religiously uniform
and politically one-track entity as the artificial narrative, that
constitutes a supposed national ideology taught to our children in schools
and colleges, suggests.
Dream and the theatre group's 14th offering for Karachi audiences. That is a
pretty large number for a relatively new group and NAPA must be commended for
its commitment to theatre. 
festivals, the plays generated plenty of heated discussion and were followed
by the moulding of action onstage according to the understanding of the
individual spectator. This made the audience fully involved in the show, for
being counted as actors and not merely spectators and hence made to think and
restructure the performance when asked.
connections. Not only metaphor, but language itself guides us to grasp our
surroundings in a better and poetic way. Art too serves a similar purpose. It
generates ideas, identifies the issues of an epoch, and finds meaning in our
lives through an unusual scheme.
an artists' residency or workshop. Hence, the fact that not much work was
produced or presented at the end of Vasl Residency 2010 in Karachi is not a
worrying thought. Four artists (Ehsan ul Haq, Mohammed Abdel Karim, Gemma
Sharpe and Lara Beladi) participated in this residency, yet only a few pieces
were produced and shown on the last day of residency. Ehsan ul Haq exhibited
his work made of construction materials and ordinary (non-art) objects, while
Karim from Egypt displayed canvases with image of crow converting into the
Kalashnikov. Beladi (Lebanese/Egyptian artist) was represented by a sound
piece made before she joined Vasl whereas Sharpe (writer from UK) shared her
fragmented thoughts and notes with the audience.
I should be.