Ameena Saiyid, Founder and Director Adab Festival, the Deputy Director of British Council Pakistan and Wasif Rizvi, President of Habib University, announced the fourth Adab Festival to be held on 26 and 27 November 2022 at Frere Hall, Karachi.
Ameena Saiyid thanked Mr Murtaza Wahab, Mr Iqbal Memon, Commissioner, Karachi, British Council, Habib University, Lightstone Publishers, BARD Foundation, Institute of Business Management, Bank of Punjab, General Shipping Agencies Ltd, GETZ Pharma, EDLINKS, Pakistan International Container Terminal, Mr Manzoor of Frere Hall, Mr Afzal, Metropolitan Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, District South, Municipal Commissioner, District South, Additional Inspector General Police, Karachi Range, Ms Sara Amjad, Assistant Commissioner (Headquarters) Karachi, Mr Junaidullah, DG Parks and Sister Liza, Principal, of St Joseph’s Convent School Karachi for their support of Adab Festival.
Ameena Saiyid said, “Climate Change is the Adab Festival theme this year. At Adab Festival, we take literature in its widest form of expression in any language or form, such as music, dance, acting, and art. Literature is undervalued in Pakistan, and we tend to consider it ivory tower stuff for the elite. Through Adab Festival, free and open for all, we want everyone in the community to love, experience and enjoy literature. The Adab Festival belongs to Karachi and our community which is why we have it in an open public space.”
Wasif Rizvi, President, Habib University. Pakistan will soon be “unliveable for humans”. Extreme weather events – disastrous rains, lethal floods, devastating droughts and heatwaves – have made such unimaginable catastrophes a reality for Pakistan’s people.
Change in Pakistan will likely have increasingly terrible impacts on food security and water scarcity. Despite this existential threat, Pakistan has done little to impact the mainstream climate change narrative.
As an intellectually vibrant institution, Habib University considers it our responsibility to initiate critical discourse highlighting the severity of such existential threats.
Habib University’s academic programme aims to make society think beyond existing narratives and foster alternative possibilities.
The theme of the 4th Adab Festival – ‘Climate Change’ – is close to Habib University’s mission of working towards protecting our ecosystem; hence we are delighted to play our part by joining hands with Adab Festival.
Zubeida Mustafa. “Cultural Festivals have educational importance. They have a profound impact on a community. They create harmony, cohesion and, when inclusive, a sense of equality and goodwill.”
About 100 speakers and performers will participate in the Adab Festival, including Zehra Nigah, Sherry Rahman, Tariq Alexander Qaiser, Fauzia Minallah, Aamer Hussein, Iftikhar Arif, Kishwar Naheed, Wusatullah Khan, Fatema Hasan, Afzal Syed, Tanvir Anjum, Bina Shah, Noor ul Huda Shah, Yasser Latif Hamdani, Taimur Rahman of Lal Band, Zambeel Dramatic Readings, Natalia Gul and Mahira Khan. Ground-breaking books such as 1946 The Last War of Independence will be launched. The Royal Indian Navy Mutiny is a collection of short stories, unpublished photographs from the Second World War by M H Askari, and more.
There will be a separate strand for children to draw them to reading through storytelling, music, performances and art.
Adab Festival will introduce new, innovative, creative approaches to promoting books, reading, authors, raising awareness of climate change by entertaining and engaging the audience through diaries, presentations, dramatic readings, debate, comedy, music, song, art and dance.