Gold Award was given to Japan and Bronze to Spain @expospain2020 by The BIE (The Bureau International des Expositions)....
BITS ‘N’ PIECES
The Pakistan Pavilion won the Silver Award under the category of large to XL self-built pavilions for interior design/exhibition design as part of the official BIE Awards at Expo 2020 Dubai.
Gold Award was given to Japan and Bronze to Spain @expospain2020 by The BIE (The Bureau International des Expositions).
“This is a great moment for all of us and what we have created here is history. The world has seen the Real Pakistan through this platform. I dedicate this award to the entire team who has worked tirelessly in making this a success” says Rizwan Tariq, Pakistan Pavilion Director.
It had also been awarded with “Best Pavilion Exterior Design” by Burj CEO.
The Expo 2020 was originally scheduled for October 2020 but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was rescheduled for 2021. The theme of Pakistan’s pavilion, designed by Pakistan’s Culture and Heritage Center, was “The Hidden Treasure.”
Rashid Rana, who was honoured with the Sitara -E- Imtiaz (civilian award) this year in recognition of his achievements in the field of fine art, carefully designed the project to reflect the vibrant seasons of Pakistan. “Pakistan is one of the most diverse regions on the planet; geographically, climatically, culturally, racially, and ethnically,” he pointed out.
Arooj Aftab scored her first Grammy, winning a prestigious trophy for her song "Mohabbat" in the Best Global Performance category.
Vulture Prince, Arooj Aftab’s third album had won her two Grammy nominations. The poignant collection of reimagined Urdu verse by the Pakistani-American singer and composer as earned the 36-year-old one nod as best new artist – one of the ceremony’s “big four” awards – and another for best global music performance.
Rejecting traditional classical instrumentation, she began foregrounding the glissandos of harps and violin. “As I was working these songs out with my band, they were developing into something far more minimalist, delicate and graceful than I had originally imagined,” Aftab says. “Then stupid tragedy pushed me fully into that zone.” The “stupid tragedy” Aftab refers to is the death of her younger brother, Maher, to whom she dedicated the album.
“I didn’t write the album out of grief, since the songs were already forming,” she added. “But their overarching essence – that hopeful sadness, the layer of emotion that was added in the final moments through production – is what pertains to loss.”
Despite her music being largely in Urdu verse that many listeners will not understand, it has touched Aftab’s global audience and caused them also to reach out with stories of how she has helped carry their own losses.
