Sat 6 May 2017
10:00am – 6:15pm
725 Park Avenue, New York, NY

Now in its fifth year, the Lahore Literary Festival is a celebratory exploration of the literary arts of Pakistan. Join one of the festival’s first gatherings outside of Pakistan at this special event exploring contemporary arts in Pakistan, featuring artists, writers and cultural commentators.

10:00 AM: Welcome by Asia Society, Razi Ahmed and Amb. Maleeha Lodhi

10:30-11:15 AM: Is Fake News Crowding Out Real News?
Manufactured facts, “alternative” facts, and outright propaganda in the guise of news are distorting and muddling opinions across the world. What does the phenomenon of fake news mean for individuals, as well as states? Pakistan’s 24+ news channels turn out stories at a break-neck pace, often with unchecked facts and propensity to ‘break’ news.

With Ahmed Rashid (author of five books, including the best-selling non-fiction book from Pakistan, Taliban), Amb. Robin Raphel (former Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia), and Tom Freston (former CEO of Viacom, an MTV Network, and board member of VICE). Moderated by Amna Nawaz (anchor and reporter for ABC News)

11:30-12:15 PM: Imagination as Imagery
Celebrating image, sound, and text through a collaboration between the three speakers to mark the permanent work of Shahzia Sikander’s ‘Disruption as Rupture,’ a video animation at the Philadelphia Art Museum.

With Shahzia Sikander (MacArthur fellow and contemporary artist), Du Yun (Pulitzer-prize winning musical composer), and Ali Sethi (singer and writer). Moderated by Rachel Cooper (Director, Asia Society Global Performing Arts and Cultural Initiatives)

12:30-1:15 PM: The Sound of Data Darbar
Music and poetry are essential parts of Lahore’s intangible heritage. This panel takes you on a journey to Lahore’s, and arguably, Pakistan’s cornerstone of Sufism, the shrine of Data Darbar. Explore the symbolism it holds for Lahore’s citizenry in firing the poetic, pluralistic, and progressive traditions.

With Raza Rumi (columnist, policy analyst, journalist) in conversation with Tahira Syed (classical singer)

2:15-3:00 PM: Lahore: Of Kings and Commoners
This session pays homage to both the royal patrons (since Mughal Emperor Jahangir) and the commoners who have created the jewel of the city called Lahore. This year also marks the fortieth anniversary of Pahari Paintings & Sikh Portraits in the Lahore Museum by F. S. Aijazuddin, published in New York in 1977.

With F. S. Aijazuddin (art historian, author of 13 books, and a columnist at DAWN) in conversation wtih Navina Najat Haidar (curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and co-editor of Sultans of Deccan India, 1500–1700: Opulence and Fantasy)

3:15-4:00 PM: Populism and the Global Rise of Strongmen
This past year has marked a rise of the nation-state and hyper-nationalism in both the East and West, as well as a debate on migration. Meanwhile, we have seen the repression of rights and accompanying dissent in various countries such as India, Egypt, and Turkey, which are otherwise hailed as models to emulate for states with struggling political systems (such as Pakistan). This discussion will reveal the complexity of globalization and the emergent new political order.

With Basharat Peer (author of A Question of Order: India, Turkey and the return of Strongmen and The New York Times op-ed editor), Bernard Haykel (Professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University) and Saskia Sassen (Co-Chair, The Committee on Global Thought, Columbia University). Moderated by Akbar Noman (Adjunct Associate Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University)

4:15-5:00: Where Conspiracies are a Pastime: Satire and Escapism in Fiction and Beyond
This panel delves into understanding the role of satire and escapism at the crossroads where fiction and reality meet. Two celebrated authors from Pakistan’s burgeoning fiction writing scene address matters of assassinations, “honor” killings, hypocrisy and societal crimes in irreverent and layered voices, which aim to inform the reader of the human psyche and the drama of events otherwise are prosaically chronicled in the press.

With Mohammed Hanif (author of A Case of Exploding Mangoes) and Nadeem Aslam (author of The Golden Legend). Moderated by Dwight Garner (literary critic at The New York Times)

5:15-6:15: Notes from the Raga
Interspersing music performance and discussion, this session plies the largely untold meanings layered within specific ragas. The performance and discussion explore the raga framework, which is a foundation for aesthetics, and a means to create space, across disciplinary bounds of music and science, for creativity and transcendence.

With Siddhartha Mukherjee (oncologist and Pulitzer-prize winning author of The Emperor of all Maladies) and Ikhlaq Hussain (performer). Moderated by Dr. Azra Raza (translator and oncologist)