LLF kicks off at Alhamra, features talks on culture, literature.

Byline: SHAHAB OMER

LAHORE -- The Eighth Edition of the annual three-day Lahore Literary Festival (LLF) kicked off on Friday at the Alhamra Arts Center in Lahore.

The event began with the opening ceremony featuring the Founder and CEO LLF Razi Ahmed, the EU's Ambassador to Pakistan Androulla Kaminara, Chairperson of the Lahore Arts Council Moneeza Hashmi, and Chief Executive Serena Hotels Aziz Boolani.

In the opening speech, Razi said: 'LLF is the best platform to learn about our own culture. Unfortunately over a period of time, we have not given enough time to our own heritage. If we look at the countries across the globe they have used their heritage values for tourism purposes to generate revenue. Unfortunately, Pakistan has not taken advantage of its cultural assets and hoped the current government would concentrate on it.'

European Union Ambassador to Pakistan Androulla Kaminara said, 'I am not literature critic but I am literature lover because it allows you to step into the shoes of other people. Europe and Pakistan are very close partners and for the first time, Pakistan and Europe signed a strategic engagement plan to identify cultural exchanges.'

During the opening ceremony, Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk said, 'There is a tendency in literary reviews and generally speaking humanity to associate some writers with some cities. I'm one of those lucky writers. But once I was translated, everyone started calling me Istanbul. I merely lived in the city. I consider myself a visual writer. There is a writer and painter in me; when I paint, I'm like a guy singing in the shower but when I write, it's painful. I can't say there is democracy in Turkey apart from voting. There is a lot of authoritarianism; it's not a good situation in terms of freedom of expression.'

During the session 'Global Retreat from Multilateralism' eminent diplomat Maleeha Lodhi explained, 'Multilateralism is the acknowledgment that there have to be global solutions to global challenges and problems. In other words, you need international cooperation to address the issues we confront today. If I believe in anything, it's that authoritarianism is not the answer; its consequences always catch up. I think it's time to feminise multilateral institutions. We have given enough time to men and now we need to make them more inclusive.'

Speaking to the session eminent author Vali Nasr said, 'Trump phenomenon is accelerating. The US is saying it doesn't believe in multilateralism...