The passage to Jubilee Arts Pakistan commenced with Jubilee Arts Orientations in different regions of Pakistan. At the start, forty auditions took place at Local Council level in five popular categories; Paper Media, Canvas Media, Voice, Music and Dance, from where the qualifying artists participated in the Regional Auditions. Five Regional auditions were held the eight Regional Councils.
The jamati engagement with Jubilee Arts was tremendous, with 6000 participants all across Pakistan, including 150 professional artists within the community who were directly invited to compete at the National Arts Festival along with the winners of regional auditions. Online registrations were accepted for the first time here in Pakistan and 850 participants registered themselves through online forms.
The National Arts Festival was held from 29 March, 2018 to 01 April, 2018 in Islamabad, Pakistan. An Art Gallery exhibiting 150 art pieces in all eight categories of Art Gallery was set up at Lok Vista, Islamabad. The Talent Showcase and Film Festival were simultaneously held at the Pak-China Friendship Center, Islamabad, where AKYSB showcased twelve selected short films in the five minutes and fifteen minutes categories and almost 300 participants showcased their performances in the four different categories of the Talent Showcase; Voice, Music, Dance and Creative Arts.
The auditorium had a seating capacity for 850 spectators and approximately 3500 spectators enjoyed the performances and visited art gallery over the course of the event.
Established artists from Pakistan namely Waseem Ahmed, Amna Patudi and Saif ur Rehman Khan acted as judges for artists work exhibited in the Art Gallery. Famous Pakistani musicians and singers such as Tina Sani, Ustaad Waseem Abbas, Naseer Afridi and Hasnain Raza served as the judges for Voice and Music categories. A diverse panel of judges was on board for Creative Arts category. This included legendary dancer Nighat Chaudhry, theatre, and Kathak artist Imran Nafees Siddiqui, theatre producer and contemporary dancer Bazelah Mustafa and the music producer, Farhan Ali. The final assessment of short films was done by Mr. Jami.
The event would not have been possible without a host of volunteers; about 450 volunteers rendered their services in different capacities at two event venues for the three-day festival. Jubilee Arts Pakistan exemplified the regional, cultural, linguistic and artistic diversity within the Pakistani Ismaili Jamat. It depicted the spirit of celebration and pluralism from Pakistan connecting with the One Global Jamat through the medium of arts.
