Sufi Festival opens in glow of colour and devotion | The Express Tribune

LAHORE:

The Lahore Arts Council opened the Alhamra Sufi Festival 2025 on Thursday, launching a three-day programme designed to highlight spiritual expression, artistic innovation and the enduring resonance of Sufi tradition across generations.

the event began with a large exhibition at the Allah Baksh Art Gallery, where more than 100 works by 65 artists were displayed. The exhibition transformed the space into a contemplative environment.

It featured symbolic, figurative, calligraphic and abstract work exploring devotion, metaphor, silence and the pursuit of spiritual truth, with recurring motifs and luminous forms echoing themes associated with classical Sufi thought and practices.

Punjab Information Secretary Tahir Raza Hamdani inaugurated the show alongside Naat Khawan Margoob Hamdani and Executive Director Alhamra Mahboob Alam, all of whom toured the gallery and viewed the pieces in detail.

Hamdani commended the council’s role in cultural promotion, praising Alhamra for “reconnecting people with the timeless values of Sufism” at a time when cultural continuity required sustained institutional effort.

Mahboob Alam described the exhibition as a tribute to Pakistan’s Sufi heritage, noting that it reinterpreted familiar ideas through contemporary technique, while inviting visitors to reflect on spiritual identity, cultural memory and the artistic impulses that shape collective engagement with mystical traditions.

The festival promises a wider programme that will include a major discussion titled ‘The Legacy of Punjabi Sufi Poetry and Its Message for the Youth’, featuring Dr Sughra Sadaf, Dr Imdad Hussain, Dr Zakariya Zakir, Nain Sukh and Yousaf Punjabi.

Performances on the second day will include Sufi music and Raqs-e-Dervish presentations by the Alhamra Academy of Performing Arts, followed by Sufi Raqs by Yousaf Punjabi and a Sufi night led by vocalist Tehseen Sakina, who will present material rooted in longstanding regional devotional traditions.

The festival aims to offer the public a multi-form cultural experience combining art, performance and dialogue, encouraging audiences to explore themes of unity, introspection and shared heritage that remain central to Sufi practice across South Asia.