Fifth Karachi Conference reviving the history of the ‘City of Lights’

The three-day fifth International Karachi Conference happening from October 27-29, at the Arts Council of Pakistan is on the go with full swing.

Speaking of the event, the first day of the event was dedicated to the films, based on Karachi, by students followed by question answers session and panel discussion by Shabbir Siraj, Taimur Suri and Rumana Hussain.

In total of 16 films were screened from which predominantly 11 were from Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology Karachi (SZABIST).

Despite the event started late, it was an all in all a journey for all the attendees through Karachi thorough a different lens, from the first documentary, ‘Bus Chal Karachi, of a montage based on colorful sights and sounds of a bus traveling on the road the Karachi, to the Cannes nominated documentary ‘What a Waste’ based on the plight of community who shifts gold-dust from the drain and dirt around gold shops on the streets of Karachi.

The attendees also enriched themselves with the history and untapped stories of Pakistan from short documentaries like, poetry and the teachings of Sufi saint Shah Abdul Latif by Tahira Roohi and also through an eye pleasing short documentary about the street musicians of Lahore’s old town by Komal Ghazali.

This platform proved itself to be of its kind by inviting the students and the directors of the film on stage to voice and to explain their documentaries to the audience. It did not only showcased educational documentaries it also gave channel to the student feature films.

With hundred plus people pouring it and for making the event successful this conference will continue for three days  with the aims to showcase current research and critical discourse on Karachi.  It will not only examine questions that define the city’s inner life today, but also global questions concerning social ecology, environment degradation and urban change.

The Karachi Conference seeks to highlight the importance of Karachi and all facets of its existence by bringing together research undertaken on the city by local and international academic institutions, scholars, development workers and social activists onto a single platform.