Pottery-making programme begins at Lok Virsa

Islamabad
The seven-day ‘Pottery Making: Engagement with Artisans’ programme under the ongoing series of `Craft of the Month’ kicked off at Lok Virsa complex on Monday.
The programme is being organised by National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage (Lok Virsa) in collaboration with Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) and Pakistan Baitul Mal (PBM). Renowned puppeteer, voice actor, script writer, television commentator and an active member of Lok Virsa Board of Governors Farooq Qaiser was the chief guest at the opening ceremony. Executive Director, Lok Virsa Dr. Fouzia Saeed, Director, Lahore Museum Sumaira Samad, and renowned ceramic artist Shehrazad Alam were also present on the occasion.
In her welcoming address, Dr. Fouzia Saeed said the major objective of Lok Virsa is the promotion of Pakistani culture and its transfer to the next generations. “The ongoing craft of the month series aims at promoting traditional skills, giving knowledge to younger generation about the importance and utility of different crafts and providing opportunity to youth to learn about Pakistan’s rich, diverse and pluralistic cultural tapestry”.
She said that it also encourages youth to value dignity of labour, foster ownership for their culture, create respect for different professions and character building. “It helps understand the contribution of artisans in the sustainable development of their community and country at large,” she added.
Chief guest Farooq Qaiser highly appreciated the role of Lok Virsa in creating a linkage between culture and education. “Children are our future and we must prepare them for a better Pakistan. The way Lok Virsa is creating awareness among them is praiseworthy”.
Earlier, Farooq Qaiser and Dr. Fouzia Saeed inaugurated the pottery making program by cutting a ribbon. They visited pottery displays and met master artisans and children participating in the program.
A large number of students from various schools of Rawalpindi and Islamabad attended the opening ceremony, which featured colourful performances, cultural diversity shows and ‘qawwali’ performances by children. The students of Islamabad Model School for Girls, F-11/1 presented famous ‘qawwali’ `Tajdar-e-Haram Ho Nigah-e-Karam’. The audience enjoyed the thrilling performances of children and praised them a lot. Four master artisans in the field of pottery from different parts of the country are taking part in the pottery making programme at Lok Virsa. They include Niaz Ahmad from Saidpur Village, Sardar Ali from Peshawar, Naveed in blue pottery from Multan and Fariq Muhammad in Halla pottery from Sindh. The programme will continue till Sunday, October 11, 2015. The registration is free. So far, 40 students/children age: 6-14 from various schools of Islamabad/Rawalpindi have been registered. Daily timings are 10.00 am to 06.00 p.m. The venue is Pakistan National Museum of Ethnology (Heritage Museum), Shakarparian. To cater the growing demand of adults, Lok Virsa management has decided to offer training facility in pottery making to adults apart from children on last the day of the program i.e. 11th October 11, 2015. Interested individuals can register them with Lok Virsa Museum Section on 0300-5204755.