EDITED BY M. M. ALAM
KARACHI: Literati congregated here on Saturday (February 11) to attend Cultural Heritage & Preservation in Pakistan & SA, a Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) session moderated by the Consul General of USA Grace Shelton.
Panelists included Dr. Matthew Cook of North Carolina Central University, Heritage Foundation’s Yasmeen Lari, U.S. Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) expert Dr. Laura Tedesco, and renowned classical dancer and activist Ms. Sheema Kermani.
Consul General Shelton noted that the AFCP was established at the request of the 106th Congress of the United States, and supports the conservation of sites, objects, and forms of traditional cultural expression in more than 120 countries around the world.
She also highlighted the United States’ involvement in helping to preserve nineteen AFCP sites in Pakistan, including the ancient city of Taxila; the Alamgiri Gate at the Lahore Fort, Manora Island’s Varun Dev Temple and the Makli tombs in Sindh.
RELEVANT PIECE PUBLISHED EARLIER
(TEXT and VIDEO) US Govt. is helping 1.7m Pakistani children learn to read: CG Grace Shelton speaking at 8th KLF
M. M. ALAM
KARACHI: U.S. Consul General Grace W. Shelton while speaking on the occasion of eighth Karachi Literature Festival (KLF)’s inauguration on Friday (10th January) has informed: “Through US assistance we are helping 1.7 million Pakistani children learn to read. Like the KLF we want to increase venues for people to read and make books accessible”.
Noting that every year since its inception, the U.S. Government has supported the festival Grace Shelton said: “I am especially proud that this year the US Consulate is once again co-sponsoring the KLF”.
Observing that over the past seven years KLF has become the most anticipated event on Karachi’s cultural calendar, Grace Shelton held: “Year after year the festival has continued to attract larger and larger audiences including visitors and participants from overseas who have come to see the cultural renaissance that is going on all around us in Karachi.
“More than just aspiring forum of the diverse range of workshops KLF has become an international platform engaging all walks of life to debate learn and appreciate our shared cultures”.
US Consul General maintained that KLF was important for so many reasons: “As it has in the past this weekend it provides a change for new conversations, connections and meetings of the mind among people throughout Pakistan and around the world”.
Stating that she loved what Ameena Saiyid said about KLF’s making creative spaces’, Grace Shelton anticipated: “By the end of the weekend we will attempt to understand each other better and in that process we will also encounter new books and new ideas that change the way we think about topics of the day”.
Commenting on one of the many reasons that US Government is supporting KLF she stated: “Because of the important role KLF plays in literacy and academic dialogue.
“By facilitating contacts between talented artists and academics from our two countries and from around the world to all of us up here (on the stage) we lay the groundwork for future collaboration and mutual understanding”.
Grace Shelton said that KLF expansion to include a children literature festival shows its commitment to Pakistan’s youth: “We share that commitment and support for literacy programs as one of the US Government’s key objectives in education initiatives in Pakistan.
“US Government-sponsored Lincoln Corners throughout Pakistan offer books, magazines and quiet places to read and study. The schools we are building throughout Sindh will also have libraries open to students and the communities around those schools”.
Pointing towards US Consulate’s bookmobile at the main Garden of Beach Luxury Hotel she hoped visitors would get a chance to visit it.
She further mused: “Hand in hand with literacy, critical thinking is crucial element in any society’s continued progress. Building resilience and critical thinking…where kids have fun, is important not here in Pakistan but also around the world again”, she concluded.
Grace Shelton has also invited karachiites to attend the panel on art/culture and cultural preservation.
This is the second year the US Consulate has brought experts from the U.S. This year in addition to 2 US speakers’ participation, the Consulate is sponsoring three sessions throughout the weekend.
