The 'mushaira' has moved to YouTube

Salima Hashmi, daughter of Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz, who was among Pakistan’s best-known artists, speaks both English and Urdu with equal ease. An artist, writer, academic and activist in her own right, Hashmi says she’ll never try writing poetry. “People will say I’m trying to be as great as my father. There’s no way I can fill his shoes,” she says, in an interview with The Mag.

Excerpts:
How has the literary and arts scene changed in Pakistan over the last ten years?
The last decade has opened up an international window for literature in Pakistan. It’s definitely improved since the time of Zia-ul-Haq. But then, when the nation is under pressure, it’s more imperative for the artist to become the voice of the nation. The literature of protest started in the Zia period. With the internet, there’s better communication now. And in the last 10 years, this protest literature has seeped into international consciousness as well.

Of course, we do have the Mohammed Hanifs, but Pakistan doesn’t have as large a reading public as India does. However, there’s been very interesting work in Urdu. This has yet to be translated though.

For contemporary artists, it is a very exciting time. Not just the privileged lot, artists from the interiors of Sindh, Bangladesh, the Maldives, even Hazaras from Afghanistan are coming to study in Lahore. These artists are showing from Japan to New York. In fact, we at the School of Visual Arts & Design at the Beaconhouse National University in Lahore are working on a collaborated art project online with the Srishti School of Art in Bangalore. The internet is definitely helping better relations too.

Is the poetry a dying art form? Are any poets today as popular as Faiz Ahmed Faiz was and is?
It’s true that mushaira (a social gathering where poetry is read) is not as popular as it once was. Mushaira required a certain setting and patronage. People just don’t have the means or the time anymore. But that forum has moved to the electronic media too. I’ve found that YouTube and blogs are a very popular, even for Urdu poetry.

Besides, we can’t have geniuses born every minute. My father’s generation had another great poet in Sindh, Sheikh Ayaz. Faiz was lucky to get a wider audience because of the language he used. Besides being better translated than most other languages, it still has a wide appeal. Even in his centennial year, I’ve come across a lot of people who don’t understand Urdu, but know his poetry. Even the younger generation is looking for a voice that speaks to them. Faiz’s works give them that. Last year, at a recital of his poetry in London, a number of Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi kids waited in line to hear Faiz’s work.

Culture does that. There are just too many commonalities for both nations to ignore. I think culture is the bridge that India and Pakistan need. Music is an example: Coke Studio is doing great things with artists on both sides of the border.

As an activist, you work with oppressed women in Pakistan. How have things changed for women?
Women are oppressed all over the subcontinent: Honour killings, lack of opportunities to pursue education in rural areas, etc. But the rise of extremism in Pakistan has prompted certain factions to make it their business to target women. However, in the process, women are also becoming more belligerent. Things are — very slowly — changing. One year, when I was Principal of the National College of Arts in Lahore, 9 of the 10 medals at the convocation went to women. The dean asked whether I had anything to do with this. (No!) It is no longer possible to sideline women academically or in the arts.