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Culture Vulture: Hijacking an academy

Shahid Nadeem

Arts institutions are not run by bureaucrats, who have spent all their lives obeying orders or giving orders, but by practitioners of arts. The involvement of stakeholders is crucial for the planning and effective running of such projects

On Monday, Sept 23, an event of extraordinary importance in Pakistan’s cultural history took place. Classes for the first-ever Performing Arts Academy in the country began at the Alhamra Complex on the Mall. Huge banners adorning the Alhamra walls appear to scream with joy at the momentous occasion. The Punjab governor, who has taken keen personal interest in setting up this academy, is reportedly quite pleased with himself. After all he has done what no previous governor has been able to do, inaugurate a performing arts academy in a country where performing arts are privately admired but publicly shunned. That said, the governor should pause for a moment before he pats himself and the Arts Council staff for performing this feat.

The Academy Governor Khalid Maqbool is formally inaugurating in a few days is hardly new and definitely not an academy. By the Council managers’ own admission, it is merely an upgradation of the ongoing Arts Council activities. The music classes have been held on the premises for many years. So is the case with dance classes, though they are held in a basement and are almost a closely guarded secret. The so-called Academy has not consulted or involved any prominent figures from the performing arts. The first staff appointed are two retired Arts Council employees, with little teaching experience or any credentials as outstanding artists or men of vision. The Executive Director of the Council, meanwhile, has got himself appointed as the Director of the project.

This is not the academy that was envisioned by the Government when the proposal was mooted in 2000 by Shafqat Mehmood as culture minister and Tariq Mehmood as culture secretary. The newly formed autonomous Governing Body of the Arts Council was entrusted the task of drawing up plans for setting up the academy. A subcommittee worked on the project with Muzzaffar Ghaffar as convenor. When Governor Maqbool took over, he extended full support to the idea. He even urged the policymakers to aim higher and set up a performing arts university. Kamran Lashari as the new secretary culture worked enthusiastically to make Maqbool’s dream a reality. An experts’ committee worked with Mr Lashari to prepare the blueprint of the academy. For the first time, it appeared that Lahore, the cultural capital of Pakistan, would really have a proper performing arts academy. An academy which will not only train actors, singers, dancers, performance artists, but will also improve Pakistan’s image as a country which is proud of its heritage and of its artists.

Then Kamran Lashari was transferred, just three days before a final presentation was to be made to the governor. The bureaucratic mafia struck back, and within a matter of days every thing was changed. The Executive Director of the Council got himself appointed as Project Director. The Governing Body document was shelved — in fact, hidden away somewhere. The experts’ committee was discarded without even thanking them for the hours they had spent on polishing the proposal. A new proposal was invented, according to which there was no need for a new academy with a new campus or a new team. Arts Council classes could be upgraded and the project would be named Performing Arts Academy. Some retired Arts Council employees were asked to prepare a PC1.

What was ignored was that an arts institution is not created by PC1s. It is much more important to have a vision, a rationale for such an institution, and its role in the development of art and culture in the country. You need input from outstanding artists, teachers, experts, who are not only maestros but also have an international and modern perspective. It needs modern syllabi and a fresh and innovative approach to teaching performing arts. Arts institutions are not run by bureaucrats, who have spent all their lives obeying orders or giving orders, but by practitioners of arts. The involvement of stakeholders is crucial for the planning and effective running of such projects.

What has happened to the academy idea is the story of so many well-intentioned policies of the Musharraf government. Crafty bureaucrats and conservative elements in the government have sabotaged so many initiatives. A radical women’s policy was made meaningless by last-minute amendments. The policy to rein in the jihadis was deprived of credibility by the demands of political opportunism. Seats for women and minorities have been restored but they have been disenfranchised again when political parties were given the power to nominate the representatives. The crusade against corruption has become a joke because of selective targeting. And now the arts academy project has been hijacked.

No wonder the opening of the academy has received such lukewarm reception by Lahore’s performing arts circles. None considers it a breakthrough; only at best a ripple in the Arts Council’s pond. If the project fails, it will be even more difficult to revive the idea in the future. Of course the bureaucrats will move to greener pastures after botching it up, leaving the stakeholders to wonder who will clear up the mess.

One can understand Governor Maqbool’s desire to get the academy going before the elections. It is possible that a new government, if one is permitted, may be more interested in such projects. It may pull the academy project out of cold storage. But doing a bad job may be worse than not doing anything at all. Unless the art-loving governor has the time, in these busy times, to have the whole thing revised, invite input from experts and free the project from the bureaucratic stranglehold. Perhaps that is too much to ask.

Shahid Nadeem is a playwright and TV producer of repute

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