Agha Khan Music Awards honor contemporary devotional music, poetry

Lisbon: The Aga Khan Music Awards inaugural ceremony concluded yesterday in Lisbon where the awards were presented by His Highness Aga Khan, President of the Portuguese Republic Professor Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and Prince Amyn Aga Khan.

Among the world’s many music awards, no extant award or prize focuses on the constellation of devotional music and poetry, indigenous classical music, traditional folk music, and tradition-inspired contemporary music that has flourished in cultures shaped by Islam.

Pakistan was represented through Ejaz Sher Ali Khan, singer and harmonium player, who as one of the finalists for the Award in Performance played in front of the Master Jury on 30 March in Lisbon and Ms Salima Hashmi, well-known painter and curator, former principal, National College of Arts, Lahore, who was one of five selected for the Master Jury.

“The technological forces that are reshaping our world now mean that neighbors who live on the other side of the planet are as close to us as our neighbors who live across the street,” said His Highness the Aga Khan in his remarks. “In such a world, peace and progress require that we promote a pluralist agenda, and that we invest in a cosmopolitan ethic.

These Music Awards aim to be an investment in that promotion.”***