THE LAHORE EXPERIENCE: REPORT ON THE UNFORGETTABLE SEMINAR OF THAAP, NOVEMBER 2011
With a vivid memory of the most beautiful Persian Garden, The Shali- mar, I decided to accept the cordial invitation of our Lahori colleagues of THAAP, to take part in a seminar entitled:”Portrait of Lahore: the Capital city of Punjab’. The trust for history, art and architecture of Pakistan (THAPP), is a foundation whose members are eminent professors of architecture, world renown architects, younger professionals, artists, poets, research- ers in history, art and architecture, film-makers, writers, Drama artists, and designers of handicraft, who have gathered to understand, register, revive and celebrate the life of their lovely city Lahore, and their country Pakistan. Parviz Vandal and his espouse Sajeddah first founded THAAP in 2006 with their friends and colleagues, mostly teachers in Lahore.The idea of THAAP, writes to me Parviz Vandal,” originated with our concern regarding the low standard of artistic and architectural education. In our third world countries, governments play a major role in determin- ing matters about this, and they unfortunately believe in development only through science and technology. Efforts for improvement of human resource, humanities, arts, etc. are thus left to the private sector.” This is why Parviz and his friends chose to have a holistic approach towards the urban reality in which they live and teach. Parviz continues in his letter: ‘the ability to see beauty and respond to it is human trait and it is not restricted to any class, caste, race or creed. Also humans can and do respond, in a varying degree to all arts, be it music, poetry, natural scenery, painting or architecture. Esthetics is not narrow or limited. Thus if humans desire to understand beauty they must be broad-based and well read persons. The broader the area of interest, the deeper the sense of beauty. Holistic approach recognizes that humans are complex organisms and their minds work in a series of interlinked networks of the brain. This also applies to cities and urban agglomerations, which are organisms, composed of a variety of humans, resources and environment within which they operate to live and seek happiness through a struggle to better understand the world. Cultural and Economic survival are linked, and all classes play a role. The divisive nature of present day urban development has to be changed….and we see this as a supra-national effort.” THAAP not only holds international seminars and regular talks all year long, but also actively publishes on Art and Architecture, works on Pakistani fine handicrafts, and attracts the attention of architectural stu- dents into art, theatre, and music, creating atmospheres where everyone in the city of Lahore could communicate for a better city, appreciating the authenticity of what is really Lahori. In the seminar there came people from all corners of the world. The theme being Lahore, the poet Shah- navaz Zaedi started with a poem titled “ see the from here!” Neda Rahman talked about the two rivers of Lahore, and the intervention of the British bringing the city to the sides of the canal they dug. Javad Heydar talked about the street children, and their right to food, home and education. Saba Sami’h told the story of the two famous mausoleums of Jahangir and Anarkali, of the mugal period. Hale Bashir, talked about the traditional houses and the British house in Lahore. Nilum Naz explained about Nawlaka, a famous bazaar in Lahore. Emran Yasin talked about the infrastructure of Lahore, Mohammad Azhar of the Railway and the formation of modern Lahore, while Sajjad Kowsar gave an excellent speech on the gardens of Lahore. Shahzad talked about the sanctuaries of Lahore, and Feisal Sajjad on the Statues. The younger people were more interested on the cinemas and their history. And our dear friend Nadhira Khan talked about the heritage of the sik governers in the 19th century. The next day, Nadhira took me and some other girls for a tour in old Lahore, where we had lovely stuffed bread, and she bought us bungles, saying: “How can a woman leave Lahore without bungles?!”
باغ حضوري لاهور جلوي مسجد پادشاهي مسجد وزيرخانHozouri Bagh in front of Badshahi mosque Vazir Khan mosque