Dr Fouzia joins PNCA as DG

Islamabad: Author, right activist and researcher Dr Fouzia Saeed, former director-general, Lok Virsa, joined Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) as its director-general here Wednesday.

Dr Fouzia replaced renowned playwright, painter, singer, instrumentalist and TV drama artist Jamal Shah. Dr Fouzia did her PhD in Education with minor in Cultural Anthropology from University of Minnesota in 1987. She holds a Master degree in Design and Material Culture from the same university.

As head of Lok Virsa, she digitised the audio and video archives of Lok Virsa, revitalised the institute as a hub of vibrant cultural activity and building a diverse team with representation from all regions of Pakistan.

She started a weekly show of Pakistani and foreign films Mundwa in which performers, directors, musicologists or other experts from silver screen were invited. The screening followed a lively discussion in which Aijaz Gul, a noted film critic and son of Agha GA Gul, a known personality of our film industry, was a prominent discussant. Fouzia had to face a stagnant system and resistance of many kinds but she managed to deal with several stakeholders and mobilised support despite meager budgets and succeeded in transforming Lok Virsa into a vibrant institution with her innovative manners, which included fund raising also.

Earlier, she headed The Folklore Society of Pakistan and endeavoured to revive Manganhaar music in Pakistan by leading a movement for ten years.

Dr Fouzia also headed several other institutions and departments including government bodies, INGOs and UN departments. Bedari and Mehargarh were prominent in her efforts in the fields of human rights and culture. She also had been Country Director of ActionAid.

Her book ‘Taboo’ depicts culture of red-light area, which was translated by daring and revolutionary poetess Fehmida Riaz. ‘Taboo’ is being used as a textbook at Anthropology Departments in England, Japan and USA. It has been translated into four other languages. She also wrote Folk Heritage of Pakistan and Forgotten Faces.

Her interest in theatre, music and performing art is spanned over 4 decades where she also has excellent networks and can bring in as her strength, linkages in the community of artists, cultural experts, filmmakers, musicians and related people.