Can creative Pakistan undo unstable Pakistan? This was a question that a session at the Karachi Literature Festival on Sunday attempted to address. The session started with moderator Peter Upton introducing Pakistan’s former ambassador to the United States Sherry Rehman and the formidable Jude Kelly – artistic director of the Southbank Centre in London – as somebody who never takes no for an answer.
Upton began the session by asking if Pakistan could afford to worry about arts when it was mired in a range of issues "such as power cuts, economic crisis, crime, unemployment, et al”.
To this, Sherry resignedly responded in the negative, adding that Pakistan was fighting the longest war of the millennium.
“I wouldn't burden culture with the responsibility of those who are our elected representatives,” she said, however acknowledging that devoid of culture, Pakistan could get into further trouble.
She also said that culture had been at the frontline of policy controversy but underscored that culture could not be the silver bullet, adding that an artist could not be asked to harness his or her talent for political good.
“Don't burden culture with saving Pakistan. But we can build culture through discourse with literature festivals like these and other cultural spaces which are very important.”
Asked to comment on the same question, Kelly took on a more optimistic route and gave the example of Britain, which has taken a number of steps to ensure that culture becomes and remains a part of the government’s policy, though adding that the UK still had a long way to go.
“What helped Britain to move forward after World War II was that people came to understand that cultural expression was their right.” She says people are denied their fundamental rights when culture is not part of the government’s policy.
Following Kelly’s answer, Sherry emphasised that culture and arts were important in the lives of nations and as far as Pakistan was concerned, it was leading the way through a dark tunnel.
Talking about women empowerment in arts, both Sherry and Kelly were on the same page when they said that despite the number of women movements, women were not accorded the same importance as their male counterparts. “If you want the story of the world to change, you have to give women’s voice equal importance,” said Kelly.
The otherwise solemn session culminated on a light note when Upton asked the speakers what they would do if appointed Minister of Culture.
Sherry said she would open a public conversation with local communities to shape cultural policy, and engage people to understand what they really wanted.
“I’ll lobby and connive to become the PM," says Kelly, drawing chuckles from the audience.
Fittingly, Sherry responded that she refrained from saying the same to avoid grabbing bad headlines.
