Grand opening of CPEC Cultural Caravan festival on Feb 25: Jamal Shah

ISLAMABAD, Feb 15 (APP):The grand opening of a series of exhibitions and festival of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Cultural Caravan will be held at Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) on Sunday February 25.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Director General (PNCA) Jamal Shah said PNCA has the honor of executing two very important initiatives; National Art’s Convention and China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Cultural Caravan (CCCC).
He said that the CPEC Cultural Caravan festival includes visual and arts and photography exhibitions, film screenings, film, dance performance, fashion and textile show, book launch, seminar, handicrafts display and cultural cuisine from China and Pakistan.
He said that the festival was aimed to project the paintings, drawings and art work produced by artists during cultural caravan journey.
He said that PNCA would also organize an International Academic Seminar on the history and culture and current relevance of historic Silk Route in Asia.
“Series of short films and documentaries by filmmakers, each dedicated to one of the city/caravanserai on the CPEC route would also be showcased,” Jamal Shah said.
He said that these films would show the historical background and contemporary relevance, culture, history, tourist attractions and monuments.
Director General PNCA said that the caravan travelled from Xi’an (China) to Gwadar (Pakistan), documenting and reflecting upon the land, life and people along the CPEC route during the month of November 2017.
He said that the festival and seminar was also aimed to showcase the caravan deliverable and to deliberate on the measures, policy and regulatory frameworks to be implemented in order to benefit from the opportunities presented by the creative economy and culture and creative industries in general and to focus and evaluate the potential of bilateral trade and cooperation in culture and creative industries and cultural exchange between China and Pakistan.
He said that a series of grand exhibitions will be held between February 25 to March 2, 2018 in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. He said that next year the cultural caravan will be expanded and artists of Centeral Asia would also be invited to participate in the month-long journey of cultural caravan.
He said that National Artists’ Convention is an initiative by PNCA to underscore various issues and problems confronting the artist’s community which have been adversely affecting the cultural environment of the society at large.
He said that more than 300 artists will participate in three-day event.
National Artist’s Convention is a moot of renowned Pakistani artists from all the fields to discuss the validity of art and culture and to ponder upon the challenges faced by arts and artists.
He said that the experienced artists will deliberate on important issues and prepare a charter of demand for consideration during three-day convention.
He said that PNCA would also establish its offices at nine places including FATA and Gilgit-Baltistan.
He said that government has approved National Film Academy Project which is big achievement. He said that artist’s welfare funds will also be established.