The Karachi Arts Council takes the lead in organizing festivals that bring together groups from countries around the world. The tradition of organizing art festivals was started and continued for about 15 years by the Rafi Peer Theater Workshop in Lahore. Many groups from other countries involved in theater, music, puppetry, dance and mime reading participated in these festivals. Unfortunately, the welcome program came to an end after the terrorist attack on their festival in 2008.

Since then, festivals held in Lahore have had little participation from abroad. Gradually, attention focused on Karachi, especially the Arts Council, the main initiator of which is Ali Ahmed Shah. Resourceful, well-motivated, he completes tasks at an impressive pace. He and Anwar Maqsood seem to be working well together and are handling their responsibilities efficiently and without facing any hurdles. Ali Ahmed Shah was also bold enough to go beyond emphasizing in activities organized by the Karachi Arts Council that art or artistic expression should not and cannot be limited to just one city and cover the entire country. Cultural exchanges are needed all over the world, just as they are needed all over Pakistan.

It is difficult to list all the groups that will take part in the World Culture Festival organized by KAC and the significant artists who will perform there, but Cocoon Dance Company from Germany was mentioned. The festival, which involves over 450 artists from 40 countries, began on September 26 (Thursday) at the Arts Council of Pakistan in Karachi and will last until October 30.

Cocoon Dance, a German-Swiss performance art collective founded in 2000 by choreographer Rafae le Giovanola and playwright Rainald Endraß, has become a key figure in contemporary dance. Since 2005, the company has created approximately 40 productions that have toured around the world and won numerous awards. Their work emphasizes improvisation, teamwork and innovative approaches to stage and body perception, inviting the audience to engage in both the representation and creation of reality. Cocoon Dance challenges traditional stage conventions, transforming the dance space into a sphere of thought and perception.

Cocoon Dance, a German-Swiss performance art collective founded in 2000 by choreographer Rafae le Giovanola and playwright Rainald Endraß, has become a key figure in contemporary dance. Cocoon Dance challenges traditional stage conventions, transforming the dance space into a sphere of thought and perception.

Erica Lauren Wise from Spain will also play at the World Culture Festival.

It appears that many groups from various Gulf countries will attend the meeting. Although Pakistanis have a great deal of contact with these Gulf countries and have indeed been involved in building a modern state structure and infrastructure, the impression still persists that these countries are conservative and uninterested in promoting the sound and visual arts.

However, in these countries, huge galleries and museums are being built or have been built, with an emphasis on Islamic art, whose collections have amazed the world.

They are also becoming centers of world art, including performing arts. Also, most artistic activity in Pakistan is based on events in the vibrant art markets.

In the performing arts arena, some of the world’s biggest companies come and perform in the Persian Gulf, making it a center of artistic activity that also draws on talent from India and Pakistan.

Over forty bands from different countries will take part in this year’s festival. It will also be an opportunity for local dance and theater groups to integrate with foreign participants and exchange ideas with them. Such an exchange is always valuable and results in the promotion of creative activity that breaks down difficult forms from within.

It may be a pipe dream, but it’s possible that these groups will be able to facilitate participation and performances in other cities across the country as well. The logistical demands will be enormous and may be overwhelming, but it is clear that people like Ali Ahmed Shah can achieve what once seemed impossible. Such actions can only help promote Pakistan’s soft image and end its cultural isolation.

The author is a cultural critic living in Lahore