Cultural festival to mark ‘Kashmir Solidarity Day’ from February 3

Islamabad: A three-day colourful ‘Kashmir Cultural Festival’ will be held here at National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage, Lok Virsa from February 3-5, to mark ‘Kashmir Solidarity Day.’

The festival is being organised in collaboration with Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan and Federal Directorate of Education, at Shakarparian. The main attractions of the festival include Kashmiri Artisans at Work, Kashmiri folk crafts, Kashmiri patriotic songs performance, Kashmiri folk musical performances, Kashmiri folk paintings by youth, Kashmiri cuisines, photographic exhibition on Kashmir, screening of video documentaries on Kashmir and many other attractions.

The event aimed to highlight the Kashmir issue, and to promote cultural heritage through soft expressions of art and crafts prepared by Kashmiri artisans, said the organisers. The activities have been arranged to express solidarity with the Kashmiri people struggling for their right of self-determination in the Indian Occupied Kashmir through purely a cultural perspective.

“A special exhibition of Kashmiri arts, crafts by master artisans in different specialised craft fields like papier mâché, embroidery, ‘namda’, ‘gabba’, jewellery, weaving, etc. will be part of display while live folkloric performances by folk artistes, folk musicians and instrumentalists will also be presented through inspirational and national songs to project the Kashmir cause.” “Since music has no language, its melodious tones reach hearts and can convey any message effectively," said the organisers.