Western audiences might be surprised to learn that Central Asia has ancient and classical music and dance tradition, like ballet: Shashmaqam (meaning the ‘sixth maqam’ in Persian). This classical tradition was patronized in the multi-ethnic royal courts of Bukhara and Samarkand by the emirs, much like ballet was patronized in the French court of King Louis XIV. As a second-generation dancer and …

By Farman Ali  Islamabad: A self-taught artist has brilliantly portrayed after COVID19 ethos, in general, and fading cultural heritage as well as city life of Lahore, in particular. The online exhibition of the artworks, titled ’City Dwellers’, by Kamal Hyat, a development professional and free-spirited artist, is a succinct comment on the insensitivity of the society towards cultural heritage now …

Lazgi is a must-see of Khorezm. Lazgi is the dance with a feel-good factor, making you feel a joie de vivre or zest for life. There is an opinion that the meaning of the ancient word ‘lazgi’ is ‘tremble,’ which describes a very energetic movement of the body along with the vibrant musical rhythms and expressive facial mimics.

  Most people who know Noam Chomsky know him equally as a giant in academic linguistics and a longtime Leftist dissident and political commentator. Only a committed few, however, read much of his work in either — or both — fields. He is one of those thinkers whose major concepts enter the discourse unmoored from their original context. Phrases like “universal grammar” …

Pashtun classical dancer marries dance forms of the subcontinent to tell a story of peace and positivity By Zulfiqar Baig ISLAMABAD: Be it the ghunghroo on his feet, the nimble movement of his hands or the Anarkali Kurta which flows with him as he pirouettes ever so gracefully; for Islamabad-based folk and fusion dancer Khanzada Asfandyar Khattak, every aspect of his …

Yamga Wakhani Museum is a treasure trove of artefacts, pottery, musical instruments and various objects invented by or remained in use of the Mubarak Wakhani Farman Ali Mubarakkadam Ibn Abdullo, popularly known as Mubarak Wakhani, was a multi-faceted personality — a philosopher, poet, musician, astronomer, art teacher, and Sufi (mystic) scholar — from Badakhshan, Tajikistan. Born in 1839 in a small village …

Tourists are getting unprecedented glimpses of snow leopards in India as attitudes toward the predators change, writes Peter Gwin in a feature that will appear in the National Geographic’s July 2020 edition The old snow leopard was well-known in Kibber. It was unclear when he’d claimed the gorges and cliffs around this ancient Himalayan village, but over the past few years, the …

Walter Rodney’s radical thought and activism led to his eventual killing by a bomb in Guyana, in 1980 By: Mohammed Elnaiem It’s rare for an academic to be banned from a country, let alone for that country’s citizens to riot in response. It’s rarer still for one to have 30,000 people show up to their funeral. But Walter Rodney was, in …

  File: Khanzada Asfandyar Khattak is a folk and fusion dancer, choreographer, and instructor. by Haroon Bacha & Abubakar Siddique Khanzada Asfandyar Khattak, a dance artist, is using his spin, whirl, and moves to beat stay-at-home isolation during the coronavirus pandemic. Khattak, in his early 40s, has used the quarantine to refine, innovate, and spread the various dance forms used …

Global leaders call for awareness about the importance of biodiversity, promotion of ecosystem-based solutions to build a future in harmony with nature    Herald Report   Islamabad: As the world is reeling from the devastating impact of coronavirus, world leaders have called on the global community to “re-examine our relationship to the natural world, create knowledge and awareness about the …