ISLAMABAD: Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tourism, Sports, Culture, Archaeology and Museum Department of Gilgit Baltistan.
Dr Fouzia Saeed, DG PNCA and Raja Nasir Ali, Minister for Culture in Gilgit Baltistan signed the agreement.
According to the statement released by PNCA, The MoU will allow PNCA to set-up its Regional Culture Centre in GB for collaborative programs of mutual interest and understanding to share a common mandate of the promotion of art & culture, cultural education, dissemination of related information including the transmission of knowledge and cultural development and training of human resource in the fields of art and culture.
The main aspect of this kind of cooperation is to open new horizons for the younger generation to learn about the power of cultural information with correct perception. PNCA under the guidance of Shafqat Mahmood, Federal Minister for National Heritage and Culture Division is trying to explore new avenues to engage youth in its cultural endeavours.
Raja Nasir Ali, Minister for Tourism, Sports, Culture, Archaeology and Museum Department of GB termed this MoU a new beginning for the promotion of art and culture of Gilgit Baltistan at national and international level.
Dr Fouzia Saeed, Director General PNCA took this initiative of signing MoUs with the government of GB for extending cooperation for the promotion of regional art and culture of GB in Pakistan and abroad. She believes that PNCA has been too Islamabad Centric and its time that it should reach out to the provinces and establish itself there in collaboration with the provincial governments, as PNCA has a national mandate and is not an Islamabad Arts Council. During her remarks after the signing ceremony, she highlighted the role of Shafqat Mehmood, Federal Minister for National Heritage and Culture Division, the government of Pakistan who is very keen to promote the regional as well as an international cultural exchange to portray the true image of Pakistan and its centuries-old cultural traditions.
For achieving the common goals government of GB will (i) Provide space free of cost for the establishment of PNCA’s Provincial office in Gilgit-Baltistan. (ii) Hold collaborative programs to further the cultural awareness, promotion and research, as and when planned with mutual consultation. (iii) Will facilitate PNCA for any permission, authorizations that may be required to conduct cultural activities, festivals or filming in GB. (iv) Provide the facilities/venues including auditoriums in GB free of cost to PNCA for holding cultural activities.
The common goal of both organizations is to accelerate the cultural activities to preserve and promote the tangible and intangible culture and traditions of the people of GB, conduct training programs for artists, technicians for audio-video recordings and any other training in the field of art & culture, assist the Culture Department of GB in preparing its provincial cultural policy and to disseminate it at the national level.
