MEHFIL: A Gathering Place

Pakistani Music Up Close

Want to watch videos, see photos and learn more about Pakistani music? Check out this great link:

http://taheny.com/2007/02/pakistan-music.htm

Bhangrabeat: Pakistani Techno

The Bhangra is usually danced in April, which is the beginning of the harvest season in the Punjab. Male dancers form a circle around a drummer whose beat keeps getting faster; its counterpart for women is called the Giddha. The dhol, a large double-headed drum, is essential to the performance; while the drummer plays, people form a circle, sing short songs, and some move to the center to dance while the group claps in time. Bhangra dancers often leap into the air together at the end of a drum cycle. The Bhangra was originally a harvest dance, but today, bhangra is danced throughout the world from marriage ceremonies to night clubs, in a modernized version called bhangrabeat is much like techno music.

See photos of Bhangra dancers here

Learn more about the Bhangra here

Kathak: Storytelling in Dance

The story of Kathak begins in ancient times with the performances of professional story-tellers called kathak, derived from katha, meaning “story”. They recited or sang stories from epics and mythology with some elements of dance. The traditions of the kathakas were hereditary, and dances passed from generation to generation.

During the Mughal reign in India, kathak went through its greatest transformation. Mughal emperors and princes sent for dancers, musicians and other entertainers from Persia and Central Asia for entertainment in their courts. Eventually, South Asian dancers found themselves along side these Persian and Central Asian dancers and were heavily influenced by their dance styles. Pakistan thus became a dance fusion laboratory during Muslim rule.

Kathak is not only focused on storytelling; it is also a highly mathematical dance, based on rhythmic patterns set against a musical cycle of sixteen beats. Fast movements countered with sudden stillness are important to this form, as is complex footwork—dancers often wear ankle bells, their feet becoming another instrument. Performers must focus on telling the story with their bodies and faces while keeping close time with the music itself. This dance style consists of three main aspects: drama, mood, and sentiment and pure dance technique. Elements of Kathak include fast pirouettes (spins), linear and circular extensions of the body, controlled hand and body movements and intricate, rhythmic footwork

See photos of kathak dancers here

Learn more about kathak dancing here

Watch a video of Pakistani dance here

Do you like to dance? Leave a comment and let us know what types of dancing you enjoy.

Pakistani Protest Theater

Since the 1980s, artists have used the form of alternative, or protest theater to examine contemporary issues and encourage social change. Many playwrights, directors, and actors—including many women—have used theater to hold a mirror up to society, presenting taboo-breaking works on stages and in other settings, including rural villages, city streets, and in schools.Ashfaq Ahmad, who died in 2004, was a playwright who often highlighted thought-provoking issues in his plays and stories, using humor and satire to touch on the social and political concerns of the first Pakistani generation to grow up after Partition. Another contemporary author, Shahid Nadeem—the in-house playwright for Lahore’s Ajoka Theater —has written plays that directly confronted some of Pakistan’s important social issues. Other protest theater groups which still operate today are Karachi-based Tehrik-e-Niswan and Lahore’s Lok Rehas.

Learn more about theater in Pakistan here

Hooray for Lollywood

You may have heard of Bollywood, the nickname for the thriving film industry in India, but how about Lollywood?

In the West, musical theater combines dialogue, music and song, choreographed dance and often outsized staging. In Pakistan as well as throughout South Asia, the highly theatricalnature of musical theater—as derived from folk theatre and Agha Hashr Kashmiri’s (1879-1935) plays which blended verse and rhymed prose, song and dance, with mythology, folklore, and Western plotlines—can be seen in Bollywood, based in India, and Lollywood—the Lahore-based Pakistani movies.

Bollywood is the label given to the Hindi language-based film industry in India.   The word itself is a play on Bombay—the previous name of the Indian city of Mumbai—and Hollywood, the heart of the US film industry.  Lollywood is a further play on this idea, with the L from Lahore substituting for the B.

Bollywood films are highly popular throughout South Asia, and the films are often in two or three languages—dialogue is typically in Hindi, with Urdu used for poetic speech. While most of the films in Pakistan are in Urdu, there is a very large Punjabi film industry, in which honor, wrestling, and horse chases are popular. Films in Pashto are popular in the Northwest Frontier.

Most of these movies offer escapist entertainment, with many adaptations of Western plot lines in their own formula of high theatrics, with at least one song-and-dance number and often full-scale "production numbers" with large sets and casts.

Plots are often melodramatic, featuring common characters in familiar, universal storylines: evil villains, star-crossed lovers, and other stereotypical characters in highly emotional twists of fate, dramatic reversals of fortune, and often happy endings.

Read more about Lollywood here.

What movies do you like to watch? Action? Drama? Comedy? Mystery? Scary? Leave a comment and let us know.

Musical Instruments of Pakistan

Instruments add character to the music each culture enjoys. Pakistan has more than 600 unique instruments that are part of its music-making tradition. The instruments that are commonly used in Pakistani music may look and sound exotic when compared to those of the West, but instruments from other cultures have more in common than most people think.

Humans have only tapped into a few ways of producing sound: striking objects together, using air pressure to create vibrations, and vibrating stretched strings or chords. As a result, many instruments operate in a similar manner. Each culture, however, has its own variation of these sounding-producing methods.

Here are some of the most common musical instruments in Pakistan:

Sitar
A plucked, stringed instrument made of wood and a gourd, similar to a guitar. The gourd helps the sound of the strings resonate, or sound louder. The sitar is used frequently in traditional, religious, and popular music of Pakistan. The sitar gained fame in the West after being introduced by popular performers like the Beatles and world-famous sitar player Ravi Shankar.

Rabaab
A plucked lute with gut strings is the most distinctive instrument of northern Pakistan and Kashmir.

Tabla
A pair of hand drums that contrast in sound and size. The tabla are among the most popular percussion instruments used in Pakistani music-- €”traditional, religious, and popular. The unique sound of the tabla is often digitized and loaded on synthesizers, making its sound recognizable in music around the world.

Chimta
A giant pair of two-foot fire tongs with a large iron ring at one end. It is played by clicking the open tongs together and slapping the heavy iron ring against the tongs with a clanging sound. This instrument is the legacy of past Turkish invasions and is most popular in Punjab.

Dhol
A double headed drum made from the trunk of a mango tree covered with goatskin on both ends. One side of the dhol is struck with a large curved stick to produce a deep sound, while a smaller straight stick strikes the other end for a higher note. The dhol is used all over Pakistan to accompany dances, gather people for important announcements, and as a message drum between villages.

Harmonium
A keyboard instrument that produces its sound when air is pumped over metal reeds, causing them to vibrate-- much like an organ. Although the harmonium was developed in France, Pakistanis have used the instrument for more than 150 years and have further developed the instrument by adding a mechanism to change its musical scales. The popularity of the harmonium is due much in part to its portability and ease of learning.

Shahnai
A wind instrument that uses a double reed to produce sound vibrations, similar to an oboe. The player blows air between two tightly-woven reeds, causing vibrations that produce sound. The shahnai is primarily used at outdoor festivities and weddings.

Listen to audio and watch video clips of a variety of Pakistani musicians here.

Do you play a musical instrument? Leave a comment and tell us about what you play (or what you'd like to learn to play).

Ghazal Singer Abida Parveen

Ghazals are songs about love—a universal musical inspiration—developed from Arab and Persian poetry. These songs are usually accompanied by percussion and stringed instruments and are considered art music of a semi-classical nature—somewhere between popular singing and classical music. Originally sung in Farsi, ghazal today is sung mainly in Urdu, but also in the other Pakistani languages. Women are prominent singers of this art.

Abida Parveen is one of the most famous ghazal singers. Find out more about her here and here.

Listen to Abida sing "Jhallan Pakhi Tey"

Who is your favorite singer? What type of music do they perform? Leave a comment and let us know.

Sports in Pakistan

On Sunday, Pakistanis take a day off and spend time recreationally; public parks are a popular destination for small gatherings, competitive games and relaxation. Favorite team sports include Cricket, which is a British game similar to baseball; Polo, a stick and ball game played on horseback that has its origins in Central Asia 2000 years ago; and Kabbadi, a rough and tumble sport where players dodge and tag their opponents in a game that resembles a cross between rugby and wrestling.

Cricket? Football? Kabbadi? What sports do you like to watch and play?

Check out these photos from the 2006 Kabbadi World Cup

Student Life in Pakistan

Pakistani culture outside the home is often more formal than in America. In school, many children wear uniforms. When their teacher enters the classroom, they stand and say “Salaam alekum!”  which means “peace be with you” as a sign of respect.

What are some of the rules and customs in your school? How do you greet your teacher?

Watch a video about daily life in Pakistan

Pakistani Weddings & Henna Painting

Weddings are important family celebrations. Traditional Pakistani weddings often last as long as three to five days, with many different rituals and celebrations culminating in the ceremony on the last day. The rituals include the mehndi ceremony, when the women in the family sing and dance in celebration of the bride. The ceremony is named after Mehndi, a dark red paste made from henna that is used to paint flowers and other patterns onto the bride’s hands and feet. The couple dresses formally for the nikah, or wedding ceremony, with the bride often in a colorful, embroidered dress with lots of jewelry.

What are some of the important customs and traditions in your family?

Watch a video about family life in Pakistan

Take a look at some incredible photos of henna painting

Pakistani Textiles & Embroidery

Pakistani craftspeople excel at weaving, metalwork, and pottery.  Knotted woolen carpets with Islamic designs are part of the culture in both South Asia and the Middle East.  In Pakistan, Karachi and Lahore are important centers for the production of fine carpets. Textiles such as bedspreads and shawls are popular, and the Sindh and Baloch people are known for their mirror embroidery, where small mirrors are stitched into the fabric to create glittery masterpieces.

What kind of clothing is traditional in your family's culture? Leave a comment and let us know!

Check out some fantastic photos of Pakistani embroidery.

Find out more about Pakistani clothing.

K2: Second Tallest Mountain in the World

Did you know that on Pakistan’s border with China is the second tallest mountain in the world after Everest? Locals call it Dapsang or Chogori, but around the world it is known as K2. It was given that unusual name in 1856 because it was the second mountain in the Karakoram Mountains to have its height measured. At 28,251 feet (8,611 m) K2 is 800 feet (244m) lower than Everest, but is considered more difficult to climb. It is almost 8,000 feet taller than Alaska’s Mount McKinley, which at 20,320 ft (6,194 meters) is the tallest mountain in the United States.

What is unique about the geography where you live? Leave a comment and let us know!

Take a look at some photos of K2 and its surrounding culture

Got questions? Send 'em!

This is our "open" Question and Answer thread, where you can post questions you have about the arts of Pakistan. We will post answers here and in the section that relates to the arts genre (music, dance, etc.) you've asked about.

If you have general questions about the site, send them to us at dbx@artsedge.kennedy-center.org.

[Nuit for ARTSEDGE]

The Site is UP!

Our new web site—Gift of the Indus: The Arts & Culture of Pakistan—was launched at a special ceremony with First Lady of the United States Laura Bush and First Lady of Pakistan Begum Sehba Musharraf, in the Kennedy Center's Family Theater.

The two First Ladies got a sneak preview in the Eisenhower Green Room (the space where artists and others working in "the Ike" usually relax). Several area high school students walked them through the site, showing a few of the videos and images of Pakistani art.

The First Ladies then moved to the stage to formally launch the site with two Washington, DC area high school students, and before an audience of other students and the international press.

"Learning about other cultures and countries is at the heart of diplomacy," said Mrs. Bush. "One of the best ways the people of Pakistan and the United States can deepen our friendship is for the people of our countries to deepen their knowledge of each others' cultures." 

"Diversity has been the essence of our people and traditions," said Mrs. Musharraf. "The people of Pakistan are making a real contribution in preserving the rich cultural heritage and traditions of the country. These can be seen in our art, architecture and literature."

The event also included a brief performance by world-renowned Pakistani tabla player, Sattar Khan "Tari" accompanied by Ghulam Farid Nizami on the sitar. We'll have more pictures of that part of the event next time!

[posted by Nuit]

Welcome to Mehfil!

Planned as a one-year experiment in cultural conversation, this blog is an offshoot of the ARTSEDGE microsite, Gift of the Indus: The Arts and Culture of Pakistan.

We'll use this space to ask and answer questions about arts and culture and provide opportunities for cultural exchange and awareness between Pakistani and American students—specifically teenagers living in the US and Pakistan, or with a deep interest in the arts of South Asia. The goals include giving space to the free (well, almost—it is moderated!) exchange of ideas and info about each culture and its arts, as well as to encourage bi-cultural students living abroad to share their perspectives.

The blog will open officially on September 21, 2006, as part of the official launch ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. Check back for our first "real" post, and we'll get the conversation started!