‘The Little Art’ is a non-profit arts education organization, which uses the medium of art to promote positive social values through innovative learning opportunities among children and young people, especially those who are marginalized and from low income backgrounds. Apart from organizing workshops on film-making and photography, the group is also responsible for the ‘Lahore International Children’s Film Festival’ and ‘Children’s Performing Arts Festival’. ‘The Little Art’ will be screening six film shows over a two day period for the CLF. The films will be chosen from around the word on the basis of their importance to Pakistani children, and will deal with issues pertaining to education, human rights, religious tolerance, peace and the environment.
‘Thespianz Theatre’ is a ‘performing arts services’ organization that has been operating on a non-profit basis for over seven years now. The organization is a member of the United Nation’s ‘International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People (ASSITEJ)’, and has performed 43 professional productions. These include plays, dances, mime shows and operas. The organization will be performing a play called ‘Pappu ka Paneer’ at the CLF 2012. The play is an adaptation of ‘Who Moved My Cheese’, a book that was originally written by Dr. Spencer Johnson. It deals with the theme of change in one’s life, and is primarily motivational in nature.
LAAL theatre is a voluntary organization that promotes social issues through the medium of theatre for community empowerment. LAAL theatre trains and prepares actors from within marginalized communities and presents them with a cost effective means of entertainment that highlights issues affecting their communities. Since 2009, LAAL theatre has carried out more than a 100 performances in various cities, locales, bazaars and slums, and reached more than 4000 people with its message. The organization will be doing a repeat performance of the original play “Kabhi ham bhi baray honge”. The story focuses on the untapped potential of Pakistani youth and how it has the means to combat the myriad problems the nation faces. The play targets a younger audience and offers them humor, drama and a hope for a better future.
Contact
Mr. Younas Chowdhry Director and Founder, LAAL Theatre Cell:0323-4372213 E-mail: Younas.chowdhry@gmail.com website: laal.com.pk Facebook page for Laal theatre: https://www.facebook.com/laaltheater Facebook page for Laal: https://www.facebook.com/laalpak
RITZ Entertainment
Ritz Entertainment was established in the year 1990, and from its inception, it has concentrated on bringing fun and healthy entertainment to children across Pakistan through the art of puppetry and other entertainment activities. The group has also been responsible for a number of awareness campaigns in local schools, dealing with issues such as road safety, dental care and health. For the CLF 2012, Ritz Entertainment will showcase a puppet show performance sequence. This sequence will involve songs and comedy skits.
Contact
Suite # 210, Marine Point (Above Dunkin Donuts), Schon Circle, Clifton, Karachi, Pakistan-75600
Alif Laila Book Bus Society (ALBBS) is a non-profit organization that was set up in 1978 to promote reading within children and to provide hands on education to girls enrolled in government schools and children from disadvantaged groups. The organization aims to tackle Pakistan’s educational problems and discover effective paths to an increased literacy rate. The organization is responsible for the creation and maintenance of three innovative libraries that attract children of all age groups. The ‘Book Bus’, or the stationed bus library is exclusively for children up to 8 years and below. The second one is a reference library that houses over 5000 books on various topics. In 2007 a total of 1,495 children from both government and private schools enrolled in his library as members. The third library is situated in a mobile bus, and caters to the needs of those children who cannot come to the stationed bus or the reference library. ALBBS also conducts teacher training workshops and advocacy campaigns specifically to promote reading habits in children. For the CLF 2012, ALBBS will be presenting a play called ‘Arabian Nights’. Apart from that, their presentation will also involve storytelling, puppet shows and arts/crafts activities.
Contact
Alif Laila Book Bus Society 3-B, Gulberg 2 Lahore Pakistan +92-042-35758395
http://www.aliflaila.org.pk
Batool Nasir
Batool Nasir has been working with OUP Karachi since September 2002, and is currently employed as the ‘Manager Creative Services/Design’. She has over 15 years of hands on practical experience in graphic/publishing design. Not only is she fully conversant with all major modern design development softwares, but is also a highly skilled photographer who pursues photography as an art form. Over the years, she has attended numerous events, ranging from workshops, conferences, seminars, lectures to courses on design in publishing, marketing, sales, communication arts, photography, and audio-visual materials production. Her specialties include typography, book layout and design, commercial design, communication design and management design projects.
Fauzia Minallah / Funkor Child Art Centre
Fauzia Minallah is an artist/writer hailing from the Hazara region in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Her passion for art and books is an outcome of her activism for heritage, conservation, environmental and social matters. Through children’s literature, she raises issues of peace, tolerance and justice. Her involvement with children is through a platform that she has provided to them in the shape of an NGO called ‘Funkor Child Art Centre’, carrying out art and book reading workshops for children living in shanty towns, for special children; refugee and Internally Displaced children (IDPs) and so on. Funkor distributes picture books and notebooks with messages on hygiene, sanitation and environment protection, free of charge among children. Funkor was short listed for the Bremen Peace award in Germany in 2009 as one of the nominated projects and organizations which are exemplary in their work for peace, justice and integrity of creation. Fauzia’s book ‘Sadako’s Prayer’ is published by the Asian Network of Trust in six different languages, and is the winner of the Hiroshima Citizen’s Award for Peace Education. She is also the winner of the Ron Kovic Peace Prize, USA in 2010. Fauzia is the only female editorial cartoonist of Pakistan to have won the All Pakistan Newspaper award for best cartoonist. For the CLF 2012, she will introduce her cartoon character Amai – ‘The Bird of Light’. It is a magical bird made of light and a million tiny stars that can turn into a shooting star and take children on exciting adventures around the world.