Arts & Culture

By: Muhammad Hammad Bilal‘Lights Out’ is a lyric piece written by Manjula Padmanabhan, and directed by Fawad Khan into a comic-ironic exposition of the clash between absurdity and reality. In the play, a married couple tries to physically stage the misgivings, isolation, fetishes, and criminal thoughts lurking in the perceived normalcy of the middle class. It is jolting in its familiarity. ‘Lights Out’ revolves around a couple which, while entertaining guests in their apartment, is witness to a crime taking place outside their household. Wife Laila (played by Kiran Siddiqui), and husband Rahat (played by Ghazi) go berserk as the virtuous and obedient wife screams at her husband to call the authorities to deal with the scenes of brutality playing off-stage. Rahat and Laila’s frenzied exchan...

By Syeda Aiman Zehra and Hammad Bilal“Aik nukta, everything starts from it and ends at it,” says curator Madam Noor Jehan Bilgraumi as we embark on a journey she started in LUMS. The nukta she speaks of is the same nukta that we see at the center of many of the art pieces she has installed around campus—from the VC’s house to his office to the faculty lounge to the walls and domes of the HSS building. It is the same nukta that she sees in the heart of the university—the Academic Block—where the campus community finds itself at least once a day, passing by, taking shortcuts, rushing to classes.Two years ago, Madam Bilgraumi paid a visit to LUMS to see the building her dear friend, Habib Fida Ali had designed. What she saw was a bare courtyard at the center: “No one wanted to cross it, the c...

By Muhammad Hammad Bilal Started by a group of three students — Sagheer Muhammad ‘19, Usama Mustafa ‘19, Abdullah Mashhood ‘16 — the Folk Music series is devoted to training students for Rubab, Bansuri, and Eastern Vocals. A first of its kind, it converges on reviving and instilling the lost elements of eastern music among the members of the LUMS community. Muhammad, who hails from Gilgit, experienced the dual symphony of music and teaching throughout his career. “It was a dream of mine to study with Niaz Hunzai, a prominent musician, and after receiving his tutelage, I was committed to passing it on,” says Muhammad. “The music of language is so complex and fulfilling. The best way to live it, for me, would be to practice it, and to practice it would be to pass it on.” Along with Muhammad ...

By: Muhammad Hammad Bilal and Heer CheemaIn the discerning words of Mr. H.M Naqvi: “Cities are not wrought from just brick and mortar, but are informed by stories”. This idea underscores the crux of the “Rendering the Metropolis on the Page” talk that took place on 2nd October 2018. The session was as much a thought- provoking look at literature that defines cities, which in turn define literature, as it was a genial discussion between two literary enthusiasts. Mr. Bilal Tanweer and Mr. H.M Naqvi’s rapport lent itself to transforming A-10 into a receptive hub of ideas. Comfortably seated, books in hand, Mr. Tanweer, Assistant Professor of Literature at LUMS, and Mr. Naqvi, award-winning author and Visiting Professor at HSS, treated the audience to readings from their works: “Love in Chakiw...