Islamabad : The embassy of France in Pakistan along with Thinkfest, Pakistan, has organised a live, online panel discussion on Mughal history and culture, featuring music and dance tomorrow (Thursday) at 7pm. In a world marked by rising populism and nationalism and where the COVID-19 pandemic has severely constrained domestic and international travel, the panel will seek to update our own perspective by learning from those of travellers and denizens of the Mughal Empire.
This panel discussion is an invitation to travel in Mughal times. It will seek to reflect on one of the first waves of global connections unleashed by the Mughals; highlight how contact with diverse cultures and faiths within the Mughal empire, and with other territories, affected the Mughal dynasty’s self-identity; underline how this dialogue across cultures were reflected in arts, particularly music and dance and seek to understand the role of kinship networks and movements, including Sufi networks, in the circulation of ideas and knowledge across the Mughal Empire.
The panel will also draw from the perspectives of illustrious visitors from Central Asia and beyond to the Mughal court.
Speakers and artists include Prof. Corinne Lefèvre, Scholar in early modern and Mughal India, National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), member of the Centre for South Asian Studies, Paris. Dr. Ali Gibran Siddiqui, Leon B. Poullada Associate Research Scholar in Central Asian Studies, Department of Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University. Arieb Azhar, musician and writer, Islamabad. Khanzada Asfandyar Khattak, classical dancer, choreographer and teacher, Islamabad. Dr. Mehreen Chida-Razvi, art historian specializing in the art and architecture of Mughal South Asia, Deputy Curator of the Nasser D Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, London and Dr. Jean-Marie Lafont, historian and author.
This event will be live-streamed on: https://www.youtube.com/c/ThinkFestPakistan and https://www.facebook.com/ThinkFestPakistan