Karachi: The Sindh government has decided to institute Sindh Awards to be given annually to honour people showing excellence in fields of arts and culture.
The decision to this effect was taken at a meeting chaired by Sindh Culture Minister, Syed Sardar Ali Shah, and attended by the office-bearers of Arts Councils in the province.
Shah told the meeting that the proposed Sindh Awards would become the second most prestigious award in the province after the Latif Awards. The Latif Awards are given to the people who do research and promote the teachings and philosophy of the great Sufi poet of Sindh of the 18th century, Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai.
He said the proposed Sindh Awards would encourage artists and performers in the province to do hard work and improve their creative skills in the fields of performing and fine arts.
The meeting also decided to constitute a coordination committee comprising elected office-bearers of five Arts Councils in Sindh in the cities of Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana, and Mirpurkhas.
The coordination committee will act as a common platform to let all the Arts Councils work collectively for the promotion of different fields of fine and performing arts in the province.
The committee will ensure that all the Arts Councils should have academies for training in painting, theatrics, and music like the existing facilities in the Karachi Arts Council.
The proposed committee will facilitate artists of one particular town or area in Sindh to present their creative skills and perform before audiences in other parts of the province.
The minister asked that every Arts Council should prepare a calendar of cultural and artistic events to be held in their respective cities throughout the year.
In order to ensure that every Arts Council in Sindh has facilities on a par with that of the Karachi Arts Council its President Mohammad Ahmed Shah has been made convener of the committee.
