Session held on Milad festival

Islamabad : Speakers during the 'Muzakra' session at the National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage (Lok Virsa) on Friday discussed various aspects of the visual culture of the Milad festival.

Professor Dr Ghulam Abbas, an expert in the field, highlighted various dimensions of the visual cultural aspects of the Milad festival with the special reference to the processions and relics of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be upon Him). He spoke on the topics of historical and cultural background of the festival, origin and evolution of the Mawlids in the Middle East, Milad festival in India, One Day, One Community but Two festivals, revival of the festival in Colonial India, contemporary Milad festival in Lahore and Dehli: from partition (1947) to present day, Milad celebrations in Dehli after the Partition, development of the Milad in Lahore after 1947 and a comparative analysis of the Milad celebrations in Lahore and Dehli.

Professor Dr Ghulam Abbass is a visual anthropologist having PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Dehli, India, MA (Hons) in Visual Art from NCA, Lahore and MFA (Textile Design) and BFA from University of Peshawar.

At present, he is working as an associate professor at the School of Fine Art, Design and Architecture, GIFT University, Gujranwala. In total, he has more than 13 years of accumulative experience in teaching, research and management. Muzakra is an interactive session in which the audience can engage with the guest speakers during the question and answer session.